What technology stack does Zions run, and how does it support AI?
Zions runs its loans and deposits on Tata Consultancy Services' BaNCS platform, a program it calls FutureCore: selected in 2013 and delivered in three phases (consumer loans in 2017, commercial and construction loans in 2019, deposits in July 2024), about three times longer than planned, cutting about 500 deposit products to about 100. Management describes it as the first modern integrated deposit-and-loan core among larger US banks and the basis for its AI work; products relying on it ship 20% faster and technology availability incidents fell by half. On top sit an enterprise AI platform on Google Gemini, nCino for commercial and small-business loan origination (April 2025), Snapdocs AI funding quality control in mortgage closings (October 2024), and, per the vendor, Zest AI for lending decisions (2026). Earlier investments named by the bank include Salesforce, an API platform and robotic process automation, which saved almost 300,000 hours during the 2020 Paycheck Protection Program. In payments, Zions accepts real-time payments and was piloting RTP sends in 2025, and TCS's Quartz tokenized-deposit software, tied to the core, is being tested in its innovation lab.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · Zions profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 16 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
Which platforms and vendors make up Zions' stack?
| Layer | What Zions uses | Detail | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core (loans and deposits) | TCS BaNCS ('FutureCore') | Consumer loans 2017, commercial and construction 2019, deposits July 2024; one data model for all loans and deposits | 2013-2024[1][10] |
| Enterprise AI | Google Gemini | Enterprise AI platform with governance, policies and standards, built under CIO Margaret Mayer | March 2026[3] |
| Loan origination | nCino | Banking Advisor, Commercial Pricing, and Profitability and Analysis for commercial and small-business lending | April 15, 2025[4] |
| Small-loan automation | Commercial Loan Systems project | Streamlines approval, auto-risk grading and servicing of smaller commercial loans (president's 2025 goals) | 2025[11] |
| Mortgage closing QC | Snapdocs AI Funding Quality Control | 98% fewer pages reviewed by hand; 75% hybrid-closing adoption after one month | October 3, 2024[5] |
| Lending decisions | Zest AI | Vendor says Zions Bank selected it in Q2 2026; scope not disclosed by the bank | August 5, 2026[6] |
| CRM, APIs and automation | Salesforce, an API platform, robotic process automation | RPA saved 'almost 300,000 hours of FTE time' in PPP processing; Salesforce communities for small-business applications | 2020 (bank article)[7] |
| Payments | Real-time payments; RTP send pilot | Accepting real-time payments 'for a number of years', piloting sends through RTP | July 2025[8] |
| Digital assets | TCS Quartz | Tokenized-deposit software tied to the core, moving into the innovation lab; stablecoin and tokenized-deposit experiments planned for 2026 | March 2026[9][3] |
What did the core replacement change for Zions' technology and AI?
Simmons credits the data work more than the software: 'We had to, fundamentally, clean house before we moved into a new house,' he said in September 2025. The 2024 annual report letter says the bank consolidated back-office functions, including loan operations, and spent 'much energy to organizing and cleansing data'.[10][12]
Treasury and payments head Kristiane Koontz has described the legacy problem the bank was solving: an IT estate shaped by more than 100 acquisitions over several decades and payment infrastructure 'built in the 50s, 60s and 70s'. Zions took part in an industry proof of concept on a regulated settlement network for tokenized deposits.[13][8]
Results the bank reports: products relying on the new core ship 20% faster, technology availability incidents fell 50%, and the efficiency ratio improved to 62.6% in 2025 from 64.2% in 2024. Technology costs remained elevated in 2026 on vendor price increases and software maintenance.[2][3][14]
The March 3, 2026 leadership release credits departing technology chief Jennifer Smith with 'the first-in-the-U.S. modern integrated deposit and loan core banking system' among larger banks, modernizing legacy technology and operations systems, and the 400,000 square foot Zions Technology Center.[15]
Not disclosed: the cloud provider or share of workloads in public cloud, technology spending as a figure, or the size of the engineering workforce.[3]
What does the Zions profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Zions AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 21 dated moves, 16 use cases and 24 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise AI platform on Google Gemini | A single platform with governance, policies and standards for enterprise use. | Rolling out | [3] |
| Zest AI for lending decisions | Zest AI reports that Zions Bank selected its AI lending technology in the second quarter of 2026 to strengthen lending decisions; scope and products not disclosed by the bank. | Announced | [6] |
| Snapdocs AI Funding QC in mortgage closings | Automated funding and post-closing quality-control review; 98% fewer pages reviewed by hand. | In production | [5] |
| nCino platform for commercial and small-business origination | nCino tools including Banking Advisor, Commercial Pricing, and Profitability and Analysis to speed end-to-end lending; the bank has not published AI-specific results. | Announced | [4] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | Zest AI says Zions Bank selected it for lending decisions | Zest AI's first-half 2026 release lists Zions Bank among lenders that selected Zest AI in the second quarter to strengthen their lending decisions; disclosed by the vendor, not the bank. | [6] |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Q1 2026 call: CEO on AI use cases and the agentic-AI threat | Appraisal, document and contract review, and AI in credit review to widen the population of deals examined; clean data from the core replacement is the advantage; concerns about agentic AI and deposit margins 'get overplayed'. | [16] |
| Mar 10, 2026 | RBC conference: AI used for 40 years, offshore share to 10% | McLean says AI is in fraud work, credit presentations and client authentication and is accelerating; headcount was about 9,190 at year-end 2025 and should be well under 9,000 a year later; offshore staff rise from about 3% to about 10% by end-2026; TCS Quartz due in the innovation lab within 30 to 60 days. | [9] |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Gemini platform, document AI, and 'no autonomous AI' in client decisions | The new leadership on AI governance, unstructured-document processing and a measured stance; stablecoin trials planned. | [3] |
| Sep 10, 2025 | Barclays conference: AI projects in credit examination and treasury operations | Simmons names credit examination and treasury-management operations, expects headcount to fall 2% to 3% a year, calls the TCS BaNCS project FutureCore and says it forced a data clean-up. | [10] |
| Apr 15, 2025 | nCino chosen for lending origination | Zions selects the nCino platform for commercial and small-business origination, using Banking Advisor, Commercial Pricing, and Profitability and Analysis; McLean frames the aim as faster answers to customers. | [4] |
| Dec 31, 2024 | Core replacement complete, gen AI integrated | The multi-year overhaul of loan and deposit cores finishes with generative AI built in. | [2] |
| Oct 3, 2024 | AI funding QC in mortgage closings (Snapdocs) | An early adopter of Snapdocs' AI Funding Quality Control; pages needing manual review fell 98%. | [5] |
| Aug 21, 2024 | Core replacement closes on TCS BaNCS | American Banker: selected in 2013, three phases (consumer loans 2017, commercial and construction loans 2019, deposits July 2024), about three times longer than planned; about 500 deposit products cut to about 100. Simmons says real-time processing should help catch fraud faster, and Zions plans to go deeper into AI and generative AI. | [1] |
What core banking system does Zions use?
Tata Consultancy Services' BaNCS, for both loans and deposits. Zions calls the program FutureCore; it chose TCS in 2013 and finished with deposits in July 2024, about three times longer than planned. Management calls it the first modern integrated deposit-and-loan core among larger US banks.
Which AI platform does Zions use?
Google Gemini. Chief information officer Margaret Mayer told American Banker in March 2026 that Zions has been building an AI platform for the entire enterprise on Gemini, with governance, policies and standards in place before wider use.
Which fintech and software vendors does Zions use?
Named in public: TCS for the core and Quartz tokenized-deposit software, nCino for loan origination, Snapdocs for mortgage closings, Zest AI for lending decisions (disclosed by the vendor), Google for Gemini, and Salesforce, an API platform and robotic process automation from earlier investments.
How did the core replacement help Zions with AI?
It put all loans and deposits on one data model and forced a data clean-up. Executives say that clean data is the advantage for AI in credit review and document processing, and products relying on the core now ship 20% faster.
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