How does FNBO use AI for fraud detection and credit decisions?
FNBO's most developed AI is in financial crime. In June 2026 its executives told American Banker that two Nasdaq Verafin agents built on AWS Bedrock, an enhanced-due-diligence analyst and a sanctions analyst, had cut investigator time per case by 50%; BSA/AML officer David Dawson said an enhanced-due-diligence case that took about 30 minutes now takes about 15, across a team of 15 investigators and analysts who still decide whether to file a suspicious activity report. The agents have the same access controls a human investigator would, and chief risk officer Nick Baxter says the bank started with low-risk jobs that were easy to explain. For card fraud, FNBO was among the first customers of Pindrop's Fraud Assist, which Pindrop says cut case investigation time 35-40% and raised analyst accuracy 50% (March 2026), and since August 2025 Prove has verified identity at co-branded card onboarding. On credit, FNBO piloted Upstart's AI lending in 2019 and expanded it nationwide in December 2021, when 78% of loans were approved instantly; the card principal charge-off rate fell to 4.92% in 2025 from 5.52%, which the owner's letter credits partly to better underwriting capabilities and technology. CISO Jeff Weeks warns that AI is making attacks faster and more convincing, including voice cloning. FNBO has not said whether AI makes card underwriting decisions.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · FNBO profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 12 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
Which AI systems does FNBO use against fraud and financial crime?
| System | Vendor | What it does | Result or status | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic EDD Analyst | Nasdaq Verafin (on AWS Bedrock) | Level-one triage of AML, fraud and sanctions alerts: gathers transaction history, entity data and context | Investigator time per case down 50%; an EDD case down from about 30 to about 15 minutes | 2026[1] |
| Agentic Sanctions Analyst | Nasdaq Verafin | Assembles transaction history and context when a name matches the OFAC list | In production; investigators decide | 2026[1] |
| Fraud Assist | Pindrop | Generative AI translates and summarizes phone calls and documents fraud cases for analysts | Vendor-reported: case time down 35-40%, accuracy up 50%, case productivity up 42% without new headcount | March 2026[2] |
| Pre-Fill identity verification | Prove | Verifies identity at application for co-branded cards using device possession, reputation and ownership signals | In production | August 2025[3] |
| Next candidate: Agentic Fraud Analyst | Nasdaq Verafin | Verafin released an agent for fraud-case research in June 2026 that FNBO may use | Under consideration | June 2026[1] |
Where does AI show up in FNBO's lending?
| Item | What it is | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Upstart pilot | AI-based personal-loan software piloted from July 2019, lending tens of millions of dollars with FICO and debt-to-income kept in the model; the OCC was briefed | October 2019[4] |
| Upstart nationwide | Program expanded nationwide; Net Promoter Score 83 in the pilot and 78% of loans approved instantly; plan to extend to affinity partners | December 2021[5] |
| Card losses | Principal charge-off rate on credit cards 4.92% in 2025 against 5.52% in 2024; the letter credits improved underwriting capabilities, technology and processes | March 2026[6] |
| Credit organization | Chief credit officer Mihaela Kobjerowski leads 230 people over a $23 billion loan book and three scenario-based underwriting strategies | September 2025[8] |
What does FNBO say about AI-driven fraud against its customers?
CISO Jeff Weeks, a senior vice president, writes FNBO's guidance on AI threats. He said in February 2026 that AI is 'a huge player in making the attacks more successful', letting hackers copy a firm's branding and tone and removing the spelling and grammar errors that once gave them away, and that voice cloning can mimic a relative from small samples of speech.[7][9]
His 2026 articles list deepfake voice or video impersonation of executives and AI-generated business-email-compromise messages among the main attacks, and describe AI as 'an amplifier, for good or bad' in cybersecurity.[10][11][12]
Not disclosed: fraud-loss figures, false-positive rates for the Verafin agents, the model behind Fraud Assist, and whether the Upstart program still runs in 2026.[1][5]
What does the FNBO profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the FNBO AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 25 dated moves, 12 use cases and 26 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic alert triage and enhanced due diligence | AI agents gather evidence on AML, fraud and sanctions alerts; investigators decide on SARs. | In production | [1] |
| Sanctions-screening agent | Context and transaction history assembled for OFAC list matches. | In production | [1] |
| Pindrop Fraud Assist for card-fraud investigations | Agentic AI translates and summarises phone calls and generates case documentation for fraud analysts; Pindrop reports 35–40% less investigation time. | In production | [2] |
| Upstart AI consumer-lending pilot | AI-based lending software tested to expand access to credit, with the bank's normal credit policies (FICO, debt-to-income) embedded. | Pilot | [4] |
| Upstart AI personal loans (nationwide expansion) | Personal loans originated through Upstart's AI lending platform, with 78% approved instantly as of December 2021; the bank said it would extend the platform to affinity partners. Whether it still runs in 2026 is not public. | Rolling out | [5] |
| Prove Pre-Fill identity verification for co-branded cards | Identity verification at application for the co-branded card portfolio, aimed at faster onboarding and lower fraud. | In production | [3] |
| Scoped access and staged adoption for vendor AI agents | Agents hold the same access privileges a human would in the Verafin system, run on jobs that are easy to explain, and leave final decisions to investigators. | In production | [1] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2026 | Agents run under human-equivalent access controls | FNBO has 15 financial-crime investigators and analysts; an enhanced-due-diligence case of about 30 minutes now takes about 15; Baxter says the bank started with jobs that were easy to explain. | [1] |
| Jun 24, 2026 | AI agents cut financial-crime investigation time by 50% | Nasdaq Verafin agents for EDD and sanctions triage, on AWS Bedrock. | [1] |
| Mar 18, 2026 | 2025 results: card charge-offs fall to 4.92% | Record revenue of $2.7 billion; principal charge-off rate on credit cards down from 5.52%; letter credits improved underwriting capabilities, technology and processes. | [6] |
| Mar 17, 2026 | Pindrop Fraud Assist agent cuts fraud-case time 35–40% | FNBO among the first customers; analyst accuracy +50%, case productivity +42% without new headcount. | [2] |
| Aug 27, 2025 | Prove Pre-Fill added to co-branded card onboarding | Identity verification by device possession, reputation flags and ownership; Brianne Stephan calls Prove an essential technology partner for growing the co-branded card portfolio. | [3] |
| Dec 8, 2021 | Upstart AI lending expanded nationwide | Pilot results met or exceeded expectations with a Net Promoter Score of 83; 78% of loans approved instantly; FNBO planned to use the platform for affinity partners. | [5] |
| Oct 21, 2019 | Upstart AI lending pilot nears completion; OCC briefed | Pilot begun in July lent tens of millions of dollars; FICO and debt-to-income kept in the model; OCC and examiners briefed. | [4] |
How does FNBO use AI agents?
FNBO runs two Nasdaq Verafin agents on AWS Bedrock in financial-crime investigation: an enhanced-due-diligence analyst and a sanctions analyst. They gather transaction history and context on alerts so FNBO's 15 investigators and analysts can decide faster; executives said in June 2026 that time per case fell by 50%, with humans making the final call on suspicious activity reports.
Does FNBO use AI to approve loans?
FNBO piloted Upstart's AI lending platform for personal loans in 2019 and expanded it nationwide in December 2021, when 78% of loans were approved instantly. Whether the program still runs is not public, and FNBO has not described AI in its credit-card underwriting, though it credits better underwriting capabilities and technology for lower card charge-offs in 2025.
What did Pindrop's Fraud Assist do for FNBO?
FNBO was among the first customers of Pindrop's Fraud Assist, a generative-AI add-on that translates and summarizes phone calls and builds case documentation. Pindrop reported in March 2026 that FNBO's case investigation time fell 35-40%, analyst accuracy rose 50% and case productivity rose 42% without new headcount; these are vendor figures.
How does FNBO keep its AI agents in check?
The agents get the same access privileges a human investigator would have in the Verafin system, work only on level-one triage, and leave the decision to investigators. Chief risk officer Nick Baxter said FNBO started with simple, explainable jobs to build confidence and validate its ability to monitor and manage the agents.
- How FNBO uses agentic AI to investigate financial crime
- Pindrop Unveils First Agentic Fraud Investigation Solution to Combat Surging AI-Driven Fraud
- Prove Partners with FNBO to Modernize Onboarding Experience
- The banks warming to AI-based lending
- First National Bank of Omaha Expands Personal Loans Powered by Upstart
- 2025 Financial Summary
- Cyber Resilience In 2026: What It Really Takes (The Vault, episode 5)
- The Most Powerful Women to Watch, No. 20, Mihaela Kobjerowski, FNBO
- AI-Powered Scams Target Consumers
- The Psychology of Cyber Attacks: How Social Engineering Exploits Human Behavior
- Business Email Compromise: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business
- AI in Cybersecurity: The Double-Edged Sword
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