CommBank Details AI Strategy

Commonwealth Bank has published a detailed report outlining how it is adopting artificial intelligence across its operations, becoming the first major Australian bank to do so.

The report, Our Approach to Adopting AI, sets out how AI is being used across the bank, how risks are managed, and how the technology is reshaping customer experience, fraud detection, and internal operations. It also highlights the challenges and regulatory considerations involved in adopting AI responsibly.

CEO Frames AI As Strategic Priority

Chief Executive Officer, Matt Comyn, said the move to publicly release the bank’s AI strategy responds to feedback from customers, employees and regulators.

“We’ve heard that stakeholders want to better understand how AI is being used across the bank and our approach to managing the risks associated with its adoption,” Comyn said.

“This report outlines our progress and the safeguards we have in place to support responsible use. To realise the full potential of AI, we must work together to build capability, foster innovation and support responsible adoption.”

Comyn added that AI had already helped the bank detect fraud, strengthen cyber security and flag abusive language in transaction descriptions.

Cybersecurity And Scam Detection Front And Centre

CommBank said it invested over $900 million in FY2025 to combat fraud, scams and cybercrime. AI is playing a key role in this strategy, with machine learning systems processing more than 20 million payments daily and issuing over 40,000 warning alerts per day through the CommBank app.

Executive General Manager Alex Matthews said, “As Australia’s largest bank, trust is fundamental to how we use AI. Our approach is focused on our risk management foundations and guided by our AI principles.”

The bank has also partnered with Apate.ai, a cyber intelligence company, to use AI-powered bots that engage scammers in real-time. These bots collect intelligence to feed into CBA’s detection systems and the broader anti-scam ecosystem.

CBA has already shared more than 30,000 pieces of scam intelligence with industry partners as part of the Anti-Scam Intelligence Loop.

Real-Time Abuse Detection In Transactions

The report outlines how CommBank built an AI model to detect abusive or threatening messages sent via low-value payment descriptions. The model uses machine learning and natural language processing to flag potentially harmful text and has identified more than 3,600 cases annually for review by its specialist Next Chapter team.

With consent, the bank can issue warnings or restrict digital banking access for senders. CBA also made the pre-trained model available to other banks through a partnership with H2O.ai.

Building AI Capability Internally

CommBank launched its Compass AI system in July 2024 to support business bankers with customer inquiries, delivering responses from internal knowledge bases over three times faster than previous methods. The solution has answered more than 500,000 questions to date.

The Customer Engagement Engine, first launched in 2015, remains foundational to AI-driven personalisation. It supports tools like Benefits finder, which has helped customers access over 400 rebates since 2019.

The bank has also rolled out an AI Guardrails-as-a-Service framework, with groundedness checks to ensure that chatbot responses are accurate and not hallucinated.

A National Strategy For Responsible AI

CommBank’s report advocates for a national, coordinated approach to AI adoption. It highlights the bank’s role as a founding member of the National Security Tech Alliance and the Skills Accelerator-AI initiative led by the Future Skills Organisation.

It has also established a five-year research partnership with the University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning and launched a Tech Hub in Seattle to deepen technical expertise.

Between April and September 2025, CommBank supported AI education in 39 schools and ran taster workshops for over 140 students. The bank’s AI learning series has since reached more than 27,600 employees.

“We recognise that as AI reshapes industries, it presents both opportunities and risks,” Comyn said. “We’re committed to implementing practices that help us to adopt the technology responsibly and we will continue to evolve our approach over time.”

Last Updated on February 5, 2026 by Nick Ross