CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 10, 2026, 10:32 AM EDT
Bank of America said on Tuesday that clients interacted with the lender about 30 billion times in 2025 through digital logins and alerts, up 14% from a year earlier, helped by heavier use of its Erica assistant, Zelle payments service and corporate cash tools. Shares were up about 0.6% in midmorning trading. 1
The update matters because large U.S. banks are under pressure to show that heavy spending on artificial intelligence and digital systems is starting to lift growth, not just costs. Bank of America said in November it would steer $4 billion of a $13 billion technology budget into new capabilities, while JPMorgan said last month it expected to spend $19.8 billion on technology in 2026. 2
That gives investors one of the clearest fresh readouts from a major lender on whether those tools are changing customer behavior at scale. UBS analyst Erika Najarian wrote after JPMorgan’s investor day that markets view the biggest U.S. banks as relative winners from AI disruption.
Nikki Katz, the bank’s head of digital, said the tools are a “cornerstone” of how Bank of America serves clients and deepens relationships. The company said digital engagement climbed across consumer, wealth and global banking, while Erica, its AI-powered assistant, was used by 20.6 million clients nearly 700 million times in 2025, taking total interactions since its 2018 launch past 3.2 billion. 1
On payments, Zelle — a payment network that lets users send money between bank accounts — reached 25 million active Bank of America users. Those customers sent or received 1.8 billion payments worth $556 billion in 2025, while mobile approvals on CashPro, the bank’s cash-management platform for business clients, hit a record $1.2 trillion and its Life Plan tool passed 21.5 million plans created since 2020. 1
Bank of America has also been arguing that the spending is feeding efficiency inside the firm. Chief technology and information officer Hari Gopalkrishnan said in November that AI was allowing some relationship bankers to cover “50 clients instead of 15” by automating work such as briefing documents before meetings, while Reuters reported that Erica was handling tasks that might otherwise require 11,000 employees. 2
Rivals are making similar bets, though with different emphases. JPMorgan finance chief Jeremy Barnum said machine learning and analytical AI were delivering “tangible benefits” and helping revenue, while Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf has said the technology could also affect headcount as his bank chases more efficiencies. 3
Bank of America enters that race from a firmer earnings base than a year ago. The lender beat fourth-quarter profit estimates in January, posted record net interest income — the gap between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits — kept a forecast for 5% to 7% growth in that measure this year, and still trailed JPMorgan and Wells Fargo in 2025 share performance. 4
But the new usage figures do not settle the harder question for investors: whether more clicks, chats and alerts turn into lasting revenue growth, or simply justify larger technology bills. Najarian wrote last month that investors were still “very keen” to hear how AI can drive revenue, while Scharf has warned the technology could change headcount as banks push for more efficiencies. 3
