What technology does City National Bank run on, and how is RBC rebuilding it?
City National Bank's technology is in a multi-year rebuild onto Royal Bank of Canada's US platforms. At RBC's March 27, 2025 investor day, executive chair Greg Carmichael said City National had tripled in assets after RBC bought it in 2015, with an organization 'not structured to handle that growth', and the plan set out an integrated technology operating model, consolidation of 'like technology platforms' and exits from non-core businesses such as FilmTrack; RBC wealth head Neil McLaughlin said US margins were 'weighed by headwinds related to the re-platforming of CNB'. The cost shows in RBC's US efficiency ratio: 83% in 2024, 79% for fiscal 2025 and 75% in the second quarter of 2026, against a low-70s target for 2027. Technology is run by Michael Palmer, head of technology and RBC's US CIO, whose remit includes regulatory remediation and future-state design across City National and RBC's other US units. Client-facing pieces include a relaunched City National Online (September 2024) and RBC Clear cash management, which RBC Capital Markets is extending to City National clients. On September 9, 2026 Dave McKay said remediation and re-platforming costs would start to come down from the end of 2026. No core banking vendor, cloud provider or engineering headcount for City National has been disclosed.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · City National profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 29 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What are the main pieces of City National's technology rebuild?
From RBC's investor-day materials, quarterly calls and annual reports and City National's own pages. Status is as the source describes it.
| Item | What it is | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated US technology operating model | 'Integrated technology operating model providing one view of all RBC services and products'; 'Consolidate like technology platforms, eliminating redundancy'; integrate and consolidate redundant US support functions | Announced | March 27, 2025[2] |
| One RBC IT infrastructure and brand | Carmichael: integrating platforms at the functional level with one US head per function, building an IT infrastructure to operate as one RBC business, and starting a migration to one brand in the US | In progress | March 27, 2025[1][8] |
| Exit of non-core businesses | 'Simplifying operating model by exiting certain non-core businesses (e.g., FilmTrack)', the intellectual-property rights software firm City National bought in August 2019 | Done or under way | March 27, 2025[2][9] |
| City National Online | Relaunched consumer online banking: streamlined balances, payments, transfers and statements, new navigation and enhanced text and email alerts for fraud monitoring | Live | September 14, 2024[6] |
| RBC Clear | US cash-management platform built from scratch by RBC Capital Markets, launched April 16, 2024 for Fortune 1000 companies; Capital Markets is 'working with Greg and the City National Bank team to leverage RBC Clear'; over 180 clients and US$23 billion of deposits onboarded in fiscal 2025 | Live; extending to City National clients | 2024-2025[10][1][3] |
| Global Transaction Banking | A new business that integrates technology platforms across commercial banking, Capital Markets and City National for globally connected clients | Announced | August 27, 2026[11][12] |
| Platform for acquisitions | McKay: RBC is building the capability to roll another bank onto its US platforms | In build | August 27, 2026[11] |
| HR platform | City National 'has not been integrated onto our primary HR platform', so RBC's learning-hours and technology-hiring figures exclude it | Not integrated (fiscal 2024 and 2025) | December 2024; December 2025[13][14] |
| Fintech-built client tools | Datafaction (acquired 2010; AgilLink accounting software for business managers), Exactuals (acquired 2018; SaaS for complex payments) and the RithmPay virtual-card joint venture with CASHét, to be integrated into AgilLink | Owned or announced as of 2019 | November 5, 2019[9] |
What has the rebuild cost, and when do the costs fall?
RBC reports technology cost for its US region, not for City National alone. Figures as published.
| Measure | Value | As of | Said by |
|---|---|---|---|
| US region non-interest expense | US$4.7 billion (2016), US$6.0 billion (2019), US$9.2 billion (2024); drivers include 'Investments to remediate certain non-financial risks and standards to strengthen operational infrastructure' and strategic investments including RBC Clear | 2024 | RBC investor-day deck[2] |
| US region efficiency ratio, history | 75% (2016), 76% (2019), 83% (2024) | 2024 | RBC investor-day deck[2] |
| US region efficiency ratio, fiscal 2025 | 79%, improved by 4 percentage points, helped by centralizing shared services and eliminating duplicative processes, operations and functions | Fiscal 2025 | RBC Q4 2025 prepared remarks[3] |
| US region efficiency ratio, 2026 | 75% in Q2 2026; 75% year to date at Q3 2026 | May and August 2026 | Dave McKay[4][12] |
| Efficiency ratio target | Low-70% by 2027 | March 2025 | RBC investor-day deck[2] |
| Effect on US wealth margins | 'In the US, our margins were weighed by headwinds related to the re-platforming of CNB' | March 27, 2025 | Neil McLaughlin[1] |
| When costs fall | Remediation and re-platforming costs 'will start to come down the end of 2026 into 2027' | September 9, 2026 | Dave McKay[7] |
Who runs technology, operations and controls at City National?
| Person | Role | Technology remit |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Palmer | EVP and head of technology, City National; RBC US CIO | Vision and leadership for all bank technology; US technology strategy, architecture and operating model for City National, RBC Wealth Management (US), Global Asset Management (US), RBC Bank (Georgia) and Capital Markets (US); 'strengthening and modernizing U.S. technology through regulatory remediation'[5] |
| David Cameron | EVP and chief operating officer (June 2026) | Newly unified COO group integrating bankwide operations, controls and change management[15] |
| Steve Comer | EVP, Governance, Risk and Controls Office | GRC head for RBC's Combined U.S. Operations; oversees the Enterprise Project Management Office and Enterprise Change Management Office; coordinates with regulators[16] |
| Naim Kazmi | Group Head, Technology & Operations, RBC (from February 2026) | Group technology; previously technology lead for the HSBC Bank Canada integration[17][18] |
What does the City National profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the City National AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 24 dated moves, 10 use cases and 40 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aiden agent platform (RBC Capital Markets) | Developed with Borealis AI on NVIDIA AI Enterprise; AidenResearch agents automate earnings content, call summarisation, data-catalogue analysis and real-time filing access for the parent's Global Research division. | In production | [19][20] |
| Post-remediation risk management | Controls rebuilt after the 2024 OCC order; the frame for any AI deployment at the bank. | In production | [21] |
| Emerging-technology risk in RBC's annual report | RBC's 2025 MD&A says the adoption of AI, including GenAI, calls for continued focus and investment to manage risks, alongside City National's three-lines-of-defence rebuild. | In production | [22] |
| BSA/AML monitoring models under the OCC order | The January 2024 consent order requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds used in City National's BSA/AML monitoring systems, plus documented threshold analysis and testing. The order does not say whether those models use machine learning, and the bank has not described AI in AML. | In production | [23][24] |
| Fair-lending programme and ML fairness testing | The consent order requires a fair-lending risk-management programme; Marc Fisher oversees fair lending and CRA. RBC holds a granted patent for automated fairness testing of ML models (US 12,651,042 B2, June 2026); the bank has not said City National uses it. | Announced | [23][25][26] |
| AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform | RBC's 2025 40-F lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights' under US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National; no product name, user count or model vendor is given. | In production | [22] |
| Adviser productivity and back-office AI (RBC Wealth Management) | On the Q3 2026 call the head of RBC Wealth Management said AI use cases are funded inside existing technology spend, aimed at adviser time with clients, back-office cost and service levels, and 'AI for Alpha' in asset management. | Announced | [27] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 9, 2026 | McKay at Scotiabank summit: remediation and re-platforming costs to fall; AI credit tools built | City National earned US$183 million (CAD 230 million) before remediation and re-platforming cost reductions that start from the end of 2026; RBC is deploying AI for commercial auto-adjudication and credit adjudication ('built, and we just demoed it to the board') and names mortgages as its largest AI use case. The adjudication tools are described at RBC level; City National is not named as a user. | [7] |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Wealth head: AI use cases funded inside the existing technology budget | Neil McLaughlin, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, says AI work on adviser productivity, back-office streamlining and 'AI for Alpha' sits within existing technology funding with no step-up required; US Wealth Management includes City National. | [27] |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Q3 call: US efficiency ratio 75%; remediation costs still falling | RBC's US region efficiency ratio is 75% year to date against a low-70s target. McKay says RBC is accelerating AI execution toward $700 million to $1 billion of enterprise value by fiscal 2027, and that City National is part of a 'change in investment in our platform, our risk platforms, our tech platforms'. | [27][12] |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Third-quarter call: City National on shared RBC platforms | McKay says a new global transaction banking business integrates technology platforms across commercial banking, Capital Markets and City National, and that City National is building the capability to roll another bank onto its platforms. | [11][27] |
| Dec 3, 2025 | RBC's 40-F: AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform | US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National, lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights', RBC Premium Savings and record adviser recruitment among its 2025 investments. | [22] |
| Dec 3, 2025 | RBC's 40-F: City National's year was about risk controls | The annual report says City National focused on risk management across the three lines of defence, and lists AI, including GenAI, among emerging technologies that call for investment to manage risk. | [22] |
| Aug 27, 2025 | 'Back on its front foot' | Net income of $114 million for May–July 2025, the best in three years; remediation costs falling. | [21] |
| Jan 9, 2025 | RBC and Cohere to co-develop 'North for Banking' | A group-level generative-AI platform for financial services, to integrate with RBC's internal platforms; RBC said advisers in its advice centre and Capital Markets research analysts already used genAI. | [28] |
| Jan 31, 2024 | OCC assesses $65 million penalty and issues consent order | Systemic deficiencies in operational, compliance, strategic and investment-management risk management; noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020; Bank Secrecy Act violations. The order requires independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems and a fair-lending risk-management programme; it does not mention AI. The bank said its focus was 'strengthening our infrastructure and systems'. | [24][23][29] |
Why is City National Bank re-platforming?
RBC says City National grew too quickly after the 2015 acquisition, tripling in assets with an organization 'not structured to handle that growth', and the January 2024 OCC consent order cited risk-management deficiencies. RBC's response, set out at its March 2025 investor day, is one US operating model with consolidated technology platforms, shared services and an enhanced risk and controls framework.
What core banking system or cloud does City National use?
Not disclosed. RBC's filings, investor-day materials and earnings calls describe platform consolidation and an integrated US technology operating model but do not name a core banking vendor, a cloud provider or an engineering headcount for City National. The bank's 2019 releases describe its own fintech tools, such as Datafaction's AgilLink accounting software.
When will City National's re-platforming costs come down?
RBC CEO Dave McKay said on September 9, 2026 that City National's remediation and re-platforming costs would start to come down from the end of 2026 into 2027. RBC's US region efficiency ratio moved from 83% in 2024 to 79% in fiscal 2025 and 75% in 2026, with a target in the low 70s.
Who runs technology at City National Bank?
Michael Palmer, executive vice president and head of technology, who is also RBC's US chief information officer with a mandate covering regulatory remediation and future-state US technology. David Cameron became chief operating officer in June 2026 over operations, controls and change management, and Steve Comer runs the Governance, Risk and Controls Office.
Is City National moving onto RBC's systems and brand?
Yes, by RBC's account. Carmichael said in March 2025 that RBC was building an IT infrastructure to operate as one RBC business and would start migrating to one RBC brand in the US. In August 2026 McKay said a new Global Transaction Banking business integrates technology platforms across commercial banking, Capital Markets and City National.
- Royal Bank of Canada Investor Day, March 27, 2025 (edited transcript)
- 2025 RBC Investor Day Presentation (U.S. Strategy, Greg Carmichael)
- Royal Bank of Canada Fourth Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call, prepared remarks
- Royal Bank of Canada Second Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call, prepared remarks
- Michael Palmer, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology (leadership profile)
- We've Updated City National Online
- Royal Bank of Canada at Scotiabank summit: AI, growth lift returns (transcript)
- RBC plans mortgage expansion under revised US strategy
- City National Bank and CASHét Card to Launch RithmPay
- RBC is expanding its U.S. business with a cash-management offering (Bloomberg)
- Royal Bank of Canada (RY) (Q3 2026) Earnings Call Highlights
- Royal Bank of Canada Third Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call, prepared remarks
- Royal Bank of Canada 2024 Annual Report
- RBC 2025 Annual Report ($700 million to $1 billion incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027)
- David Cameron Named Chief Operating Officer of City National Bank
- Steve Comer, Executive Vice President, Governance, Risk and Controls Office (leadership profile)
- RBC creates new AI Group to help bring top AI opportunities to market
- Royal Bank of Canada First Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call, prepared remarks
- RBC Estimates $1B in Revenue by Embedding AI in Core Banking
- Tech @ RBC: Preparing our workforce for a future with AI
- RBC's City National Bank is back on 'front foot,' CEO says
- Royal Bank of Canada Annual Report 2025, Management's Discussion and Analysis (Form 40-F exhibit)
- Consent Order, City National Bank, Los Angeles, California (AA-ENF-2024-8)
- OCC Assesses $65 Million Penalty Against City National Bank (News Release 2024-8)
- Marc Fisher, Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer (leadership profile)
- US12651042B2: System and method for machine learning fairness testing (Royal Bank of Canada)
- RBC (RY) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript (earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool)
- RBC and Cohere partner to develop the next generation of highly secure generative AI solutions for financial services
- RBC subsidiary City National hit with $65M OCC penalty
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