U.S. banks reduced their holdings of state and local government bonds for the first time since 2009 after the federal government slashed corporate tax rates, according to figures released by the Federal Reserve Thursday.

At American Banker’s Digital Banking conference in Austin, industry leaders wrestled with philosophical questions about artificial intelligence and the rapidly evolving expectations of customers.

Bank of America's top technology officer says finance-industry workers get spooked about their jobs because of how bosses talk about tech.

Bank of America says its artificial-intelligence assistant isn't likely to listen in on private conversations the way Amazon.com's Alexa did last month.

The numbers are better but still disappointing for such a healthy economy, lamented executives from large U.S. banks. Some are scratching their heads, some are remaining upbeat about the second half of the year, and others are focusing on Plan B.

Senior executives from Barclays, Bank of America and other big banks urged women to aim high, take chances on challenging jobs and — perhaps most important — provide support to other high-performing female colleagues instead of viewing them as a threat.

"It was a difficult decision, but we’re at a good spot to do this,” Finch, 55, said in an interview.

In the battle that’s raged over the last two years to win top-of-wallet status among luxury card users, the only clear winners may be savvy consumers who’ve learned how to game the system.

The bank is using AI in its chatbot, in trading and other areas. It also has concerns about the potential for bias to creep into the software.

Banks need to respond swiftly to allegations of sexual harassment and other misdeeds, even those involving their top performers.