How does BOK Financial use AI against fraud and in credit?
BOK Financial says it uses AI in its fraud defences but has not named a tool, vendor or result. Chief information security and privacy officer Paul Tucker said in July 2025 that 'we're implementing AI into our systems to better protect them', and a Houston treasury management officer said in August 2026 that AI-powered tools help identify anomalies humans miss. Almost everything else BOK has published is client education about criminals' AI: deepfake voice scams (its director of fraud risk management said in October 2023 that 'scammers only need three seconds of your voice'), AI-written phishing, voice cloning of bank staff to redirect payments, and Tucker's January 2026 warning that 'AI is making scams faster, cheaper, and more convincing than ever'. Its advice leans on controls rather than technology alone: dual approvals, Positive Pay, call-back verification and daily reconciliation. On credit, BOK has disclosed no AI underwriting model; its record is a data asset, an energy warehouse covering more than 200,000 oil and gas wells used for risk and pricing analysis. The 10-K's AI governance review, covering data quality, bias, compliance and ethics, would apply to any model in either area.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · BOK Financial profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 16 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What has BOK Financial said about AI in its own fraud defences?
Statements by BOK staff; none names a system, vendor or measured outcome.
| Date | Who | What was said |
|---|---|---|
| July 15, 2025 | Paul Tucker, chief information security and privacy officer | 'While we're implementing AI into our systems to better protect them, scammers are using the same tools to defraud businesses'[1] |
| October 16, 2025 | Paul Tucker | Rising AI-generated scams target individuals, businesses and financial institutions; with Colorado treasury sales manager Marisa Famariss he recommended AI-powered fraud detection that uses machine learning to adapt beyond rules-based systems, first of six steps[9] |
| August 11, 2026 | Joseph Rangel, treasury management officer, Houston | AI-powered tools can help identify anomalies and recognise patterns humans miss; recommends dual approvals, Positive Pay and call-back verification[2] |
| February 18, 2026 | The company (10-K) | Each AI initiative goes through internal review of data quality, bias, regulatory compliance and ethics; the CISO reports to the chief risk officer and briefs the board Risk Committee quarterly[8][10] |
What does BOK Financial tell clients about AI-enabled fraud?
BOK's published articles, in date order.
| Date | Threat described | Who | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 4, 2023 | Deepfake voice scams: family emergencies, fake customer service, voicemail phishing; 'scammers only need three seconds of your voice' | Scott Edwards, director of fraud risk management and financial crimes | Limit public biometrics; share account details only on calls you placed to a verified number[3] |
| February 21, 2024 | Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT write convincing phishing; AI-generated imagery is rising ('AI a double-edged sword') | BOK fraud team | Not summarised here; see the article[11] |
| February 25, 2025 | AI voice impersonation of grandchildren targeting older adults | Beth Klug, senior manager of fraud risk and governance | Financial power of attorney, automatic payments and transaction alerts[12] |
| October 16, 2025 | Generative AI scams up 456% between May 2024 and April 2025 (Chainabuse); deepfakes used to bypass identity checks; AI bots running account takeovers | Paul Tucker and Marisa Famariss | AI-powered detection, multi-factor authentication, velocity controls, security audits and staff training[9] |
| January 7, 2026 | AI-created spoof emails from familiar brands; deepfake voices of family members | Scott Edwards, director of fraud risk management | Weekly account review, alerts, switching off NFC when not in use[4] |
| January 26, 2026 | AI makes emails, calls, texts and voice or video impersonations convincing, so bad grammar is no longer a red flag | Paul Tucker | Layered payment controls and independent verification[5] |
| March 6, 2026 | Generative AI mirrors writing styles to slip into email threads before ACH and wire payments | BOK Financial article | Daily reconciliation, dual controls, human verification[6] |
| August 11, 2026 | Voice cloning and deepfake impersonation of bank representatives to change payment instructions | Joseph Rangel | Dual approvals, Positive Pay, call-back verification[2] |
Does BOK Financial use AI in lending?
Not on the public record. BOK has disclosed no AI or machine-learning credit model. Its best-documented credit data asset is an energy data warehouse, built over three years, that centralises evaluations of more than 200,000 oil and gas wells to analyse production, pricing and expense risk; the bank describes it as improving risk analysis, not as AI. Consumer and mortgage lending would bring ECOA adverse-action duties to any future AI in decisioning.[7]
Payments security comes partly from its network partner: since January 2024 Mastercard has been BOK's exclusive debit and commercial card network, and BOK cited Mastercard's cyber and intelligence solutions, digital identity and tokenisation as part of the deal. Neither company named an AI product for BOK, and the bank has published no fraud-loss or detection-rate figure.[13]
What does the BOK Financial profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the BOK Financial AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 25 dated moves, 6 use cases and 29 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy portfolio data warehouse | Historical and forecast data on 200,000-plus wells for production, pricing and expense risk. | In production | [7] |
| Per-initiative AI governance review (10-K risk factor) | Each AI initiative is assessed for data quality, bias, regulatory compliance and ethical considerations; the board is updated periodically on the governance structure but does not approve individual capabilities. The same risks are flagged for third-party providers building AI into their services. | In production | [8] |
| Vanilla AI trust-document review (Advisor Trust Services) | Vendor-reported: custom prompts run BOK's own trust and synoptic review questions, cite the article and section behind each answer, and save roughly four hours on average per initial trust review; a human stays in the loop. | In production | [14] |
| AI-enabled fraud awareness and controls | Client guidance on generative-AI phishing, deepfakes and ACH/wire social engineering. | In production | [11][6][5] |
| AI in BOK's own fraud defences (CISO statement) | Paul Tucker said in July 2025 that BOK is implementing AI in its systems to protect them while attackers use the same tools, and a treasury officer said in August 2026 that AI-powered tools help detect anomalies. No tool, vendor or result is named. | Rolling out | [1][2] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 11, 2026 | Treasury officer on AI-driven fraud | Joseph Rangel describes voice cloning and deepfake impersonation of bank staff and recommends dual approvals, Positive Pay and call-back verification; he notes AI-powered tools also help detect anomalies. | [2] |
| Mar 6, 2026 | ACH and wire fraud guidance | Human verification, daily reconciliation and dual controls as the layer AI tools cannot replace. | [6] |
| Feb 18, 2026 | 2025 10-K adds an AI governance description | The board receives periodic updates on AI governance and risk management but does not approve individual AI capabilities; each initiative goes through an internal review of data quality, bias, regulatory compliance and ethics. | [8][15] |
| Jan 27, 2026 | CEO counts on mortgage finance for 2026 | New unit could reach $1 billion in commitments; high-single-digit loan growth forecast. | [16] |
| Jan 26, 2026 | CISO on AI-enabled business fraud | Paul Tucker: AI lets fraudsters produce convincing emails, calls, texts and voice or video impersonations, so businesses cannot rely on old red flags; layered payment controls and verification recommended. | [5] |
| Jul 15, 2025 | CISO on AI-enabled B2B payment fraud | After the TEXPO conference, Paul Tucker says criminals use machine learning to mimic legitimate users and that 'we're implementing AI into our systems to better protect them'; the bank advises AI-based detection, MFA, velocity controls and staff training. | [1] |
| Feb 19, 2025 | 2024 10-K: AI 'selectively' deployed | The risk factor says BOK continues to evaluate and selectively deploy AI, machine learning and generative AI, and flags flawed or biased data and evolving AI law, including at third-party providers. | [15] |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Energy data warehouse profiled | Three-year effort centralised evaluations on 200,000-plus wells for risk and pricing analysis. | [7] |
| Feb 21, 2024 | 'AI a double-edged sword' on fraud | Fraud team ties rising phishing losses to tools like ChatGPT and warns of AI-generated imagery. | [11] |
| Jan 30, 2024 | Mastercard becomes exclusive card network | Expanded agreement makes Mastercard the exclusive payments network across BOK debit and commercial portfolios and extends its TransFund processing relationship; BOK cites Mastercard cyber and intelligence solutions, digital identity and tokenization. | [13] |
Does BOK Financial use AI to detect fraud?
It says so without detail. Chief information security and privacy officer Paul Tucker said in July 2025 that BOK is implementing AI in its systems to protect them, and a treasury management officer said in August 2026 that AI-powered tools help detect anomalies. BOK has named no fraud vendor, model or loss figure, and its client guidance stresses dual approvals, Positive Pay and call-back verification.
What does BOK Financial warn clients about AI scams?
Its articles describe deepfake voice scams impersonating family members or bank staff, AI-written phishing and spoof emails, AI that mimics a person's writing style to hijack payment threads, and AI-generated fake identities. Its fraud risk director said in 2023 that scammers need only three seconds of someone's voice to imitate it. Advice centres on verification through known channels and payment controls.
Does BOK Financial use AI in credit decisions?
No AI credit model has been disclosed. BOK's documented credit data asset is an energy data warehouse covering more than 200,000 oil and gas wells, used for production, pricing and expense risk analysis. Its 10-K says any AI initiative is reviewed for data quality, bias, regulatory compliance and ethics before use, and the board does not approve individual AI capabilities.
Who runs fraud and security at BOK Financial?
Paul Tucker is chief information security and privacy officer and reports to chief risk officer Mindy Mahaney, briefing the board Risk Committee quarterly. Scott Edwards is director of fraud risk management and financial crimes, and Beth Klug is senior manager of fraud risk and governance. Treasury officers such as Joseph Rangel advise business clients on payment fraud.
- Businesses brace for fraudulent payments
- How to protect your business from AI-driven fraud: Q&A
- Keeping up with scammers: Deepfake voice fraud
- Phantom payments and ghost tapping
- How to protect your business from AI-enabled fraud
- How to help mitigate the risks of ACH and wire fraud
- From wildcatting to data mapping
- BOK Financial Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
- Prepare your businesses for fraudulent payments
- BOK Financial Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A): executive officers
- AI a double-edged sword
- Protecting older loved ones from fraud
- Mastercard and BOK Financial Corporation announce expanded payments agreement
- How BOK Financial Streamlines Trust Reviews with Vanilla
- BOK Financial Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024
- BOK counting on mortgage finance for a boost in 2026
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