How does Pinnacle use AI for fraud detection and credit decisions?
Pinnacle's fraud defences on the record are mostly vendor tools inherited from Synovus, and its credit AI is still a stated aim. Synovus used Q2's Centrix ETMS Positive Pay to stop $89 million of fraud in 2024, including $56 million of check fraud, and a Synovus product manager said in June 2025 that Q2's AI-upgraded payee match 'greatly' reduced exceptions; Carefull, whose service runs an AI model for account monitoring, was offered to Synovus clients from February 2025. Synovus's consumer team said fraud losses fell $5.7 million, or 58%, in 2025, crediting tighter account, deposit and wire scrutiny and a customer campaign rather than one technology. In June 2025 Synovus's financial-crimes head said the bank still needed 'to figure out the model management of AI' and wanted agentic AI to draft suspicious activity report narratives. On credit, CEO Kevin Blair named 'credit intelligence', using AI to shorten application-to-closing time, as one of three AI priorities in April 2026; no system, vendor or result is public. The 2025 10-K warns that generative AI makes fraud detection harder, especially voice authentication.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · Pinnacle profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 15 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What fraud tools and results has Pinnacle disclosed?
AI status as described by the bank or vendor. Most items began at Synovus.
| Control | What it does | AI | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centrix ETMS Positive Pay (Q2) | Check and ACH Positive Pay for business clients; stopped $89 million of fraud at Synovus in 2024, including $56 million in check fraud; Positive Pay accounts up 20% from 2023 to 2024 | Payee match upgraded with AI; Synovus says it 'greatly' reduced exceptions; Q2 adding its Andi copilot | June 22, 2025[1] |
| Carefull | Monitors bank, card and investment accounts for concerning patterns, scams and money mistakes, with identity, title and credit monitoring; Trusted Contacts bring in family members | Carefull maintains an AI model for account monitoring | February 25, 2025[2][3] |
| Fraud-loss reduction | Synovus consumer fraud losses fell $5.7 million, or 58%, in 2025, credited to process tightening and a customer-education campaign | Not attributed to AI | October 1, 2026 (reported)[4] |
| Scam detection layer | 'Stop, drop, and call' messaging plus added detection for when customers hand over one-time access codes to impostors | Not described | June 2, 2025[5] |
| Chief security officer | Doug Hromco, from Accenture, leads enterprise cybersecurity and fraud prevention from May 2026 | No AI remit stated | May 7, 2026[8] |
| Treasury client guidance | Tells finance teams AI helps with routine work but 'fraudsters have access to AI, too'; human review kept in payment workflows | Guidance only | June 2026[9] |
What has Pinnacle said about AI in credit and about AI model risk?
| Item | What it says | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit intelligence | One of three AI priorities: using AI to cut the time from client application to closing; no deployed system, vendor or metric | Q1 2026 earnings call | April 23, 2026[6] |
| Agentic AI wish list | Synovus's financial-crimes head: 'We need to figure out the model management of AI', but agentic AI could turn investigators' case notes into SAR narratives and clear no-risk alerts, such as a $10,000 check alert on a $100 million commercial relationship | Caleb Callahan, Senior Director, Financial Crimes Unit | June 2, 2025[5] |
| Generative AI and fraud detection | Generative AI is 'making fraud detection more difficult, particularly with detection devices that use voice recognition or authentication' | 2025 10-K | March 2, 2026[7] |
| AI model risk | AI and complex models carry accuracy, bias, explainability and compliance risk | Q1 2026 10-Q | May 6, 2026[10] |
| Explainability | AI opacity complicates 'complying with regulations that require documentation or explanation of the basis on which decisions are made' | Synovus 2024 10-K | February 21, 2025[11] |
What does the Pinnacle profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Pinnacle AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 25 dated moves, 11 use cases and 31 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI and complex-model risk disclosure | 10-K and 10-Q risk factors on accuracy, bias, explainability and compliance of AI and complex models, and on third-party AI dependence. | In production | [7][10] |
| AI-enabled fraud awareness for treasury clients | Guidance that fraudsters use AI too, with human review kept in payment workflows. | In production | [9] |
| Digital-wallet primacy through advice and alerts | Spending advice and fraud alerts as the basis for card use in digital wallets. | In production | [12] |
| Credit intelligence | One of three stated AI priorities: using AI to cut the time from client application to closing. No deployed system, vendor or metric is public. | Announced | [6] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | Chief digital officer: 200,000-plus customers move to a new app in March 2027 | American Banker profile of Liz Wolverton, who sets digital-platform priorities with a headcount of 50 and no P&L; she credits Synovus's 2025 fraud-loss reduction of $5.7 million (58%) to process tightening and a customer campaign. | [4] |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Q2 10-Q: AI initiatives listed as an execution risk | Technology initiatives 'including those related to or involving artificial intelligence' may not be successfully implemented; total assets $129.1 billion. | [13] |
| May 7, 2026 | Doug Hromco named chief security officer | From Accenture, where he advised boards on cybersecurity strategy; previously CISO of a multi-state community bank. He leads enterprise cybersecurity, fraud prevention and physical and information security and succeeds Kevin Gowen, who retires after 30 years as Synovus's CSO. | [8] |
| May 6, 2026 | Q1 10-Q: AI named in strategy and risk factors; gen-AI rule in code of conduct | AI among 'bank of the future' initiatives; AI and complex models carry accuracy, bias, explainability and compliance risk; unapproved gen-AI use prohibited. | [10][14] |
| May 5, 2026 | 'Top of wallet' comes down to trust | The bank's digital-experience lead on spending advice and fraud alerts as the basis for card primacy. | [12] |
| Apr 23, 2026 | Q1 call: ChatPFP, 13 AI initiatives, 'through the pilot phase' | Blair: ChatPFP, rolled out at Synovus about a year earlier, has answered 18,000 banker questions and saved over 3,000 hours; 13 AI portfolio initiatives are in flight across banker productivity, credit intelligence and partner AI; over 250 technology platforms decisioned for the conversion; AI tools will be used on process re-engineering and some conversion coding. | [6] |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Head of AI profiled | Kevin Johnson credited with pioneering gen-AI adoption and shaping the bank's AI policy. | [15] |
| Mar 2, 2026 | 2025 10-K flags AI risk | Generative AI makes fraud detection harder, especially voice authentication; AI and machine-learning tools may add cyber, data-leakage and cost risks. | [7] |
Does Pinnacle use AI to detect fraud?
Through vendors. Synovus's Positive Pay runs on Q2's Centrix ETMS, whose payee-match feature Q2 upgraded with AI, and Synovus clients are offered Carefull, which maintains an AI model for account monitoring. Pinnacle has not disclosed an in-house AI fraud model, and Synovus credited its 58% drop in 2025 consumer fraud losses to process changes and customer education.
How much fraud did Synovus stop with Positive Pay?
Q2 reported that Synovus used Centrix ETMS to stop $89 million of fraud in 2024, including $56 million of check fraud, and that one client faced more than $2 million of attempted fraud in a few months, all of it stopped. Synovus grew Positive Pay accounts 20% from 2023 to 2024.
Does Pinnacle use AI for credit decisions?
Not yet on the record. CEO Kevin Blair listed 'credit intelligence', using AI to shorten the time from application to closing, as one of three AI priorities in April 2026, but no system, vendor or result has been disclosed. The 10-Q flags accuracy, bias and explainability risk in AI and complex models.
What does Pinnacle's 10-K say about AI and fraud?
The 2025 10-K, filed March 2, 2026, says generative AI is making fraud detection more difficult, particularly for detection that relies on voice recognition or authentication, and that AI and machine-learning tools may add cyber, data-leakage and cost risks.
Who runs fraud prevention at Pinnacle?
Doug Hromco, named chief security officer in May 2026 from Accenture, leads enterprise cybersecurity and fraud prevention, succeeding Synovus's long-time CSO Kevin Gowen. Caleb Callahan was senior director of Synovus's financial crimes unit when he spoke on fraud and AI in June 2025.
- Unleashing the Power of Positive Pay: 5 Takeaways From CONNECT 25
- Synovus prioritizes fraud protection with Carefull
- Synovus offers fraud, scam protections with Carefull
- The Most Powerful Women in Banking Women to Watch, #15, Liz Wolverton, Pinnacle Financial Partners
- Cybersecurity and Fraud In An Age of Unprecedented Risks (Digital Banking 2025 session)
- Pinnacle (PNFP) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
- Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- Pinnacle Financial Partners names Douglas Hromco as chief security officer
- AI and Treasury Management: More Opportunity, More Risk
- Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026
- Synovus Financial Corp. Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024
- How banks reach for the 'top of the wallet'
- Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026
- Pinnacle Financial Partners Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (Exhibit 14 to Form 10-Q)
- Kevin Johnson, Head of AI, Pinnacle Financial Partners (Digital Banking speaker profile)
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