Credit-model first: a decade of in-house machine-learning underwriting through sister company ONCI, a 2025 OpenAI collaboration for GPT tools across lending and operations, and AI disruption now scored inside credit decisions.
How is OakNorth using AI?
OakNorth's AI runs through ONCI, its sister company's machine-learning credit-intelligence platform used since the bank's 2015 launch, and, from May 2025, a collaboration with OpenAI to embed custom GPT tools in deal structuring, term drafting and query handling. The bank says AI initiatives helped cut its efficiency ratio from 29% to 26% in 2025, a year of £223 million pre-tax profit and ten-year cumulative losses of 0.045%. It has scored AI-disruption risk in credit decisions since 2024 and awaits Federal Reserve approval to buy Michigan's Community Unity Bank.
Category
Neobank
Founded
2015
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Licence and supervision
UK bank (OakNorth Bank plc) authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA; New York representative office authorised by the Federal Reserve and NYDFS (August 2024); bank holding company application to acquire Community Unity Bank (Michigan) pending before the Federal Reserve (notices June 2025 and June 2026).
Scale
£223 million pre-tax profit, £2.8 billion gross originations and £605.9 million gross revenue in 2025 (reported March 17, 2026)
Flagship platform
ONCI credit intelligence plus custom GPT tools (OpenAI collaboration)
AI leadership
Rishi Khosla · Tom Harris · Anna Kuriakose · Ben Barbanel
- OakNorth announced a collaboration with OpenAI on May 7, 2025 to embed custom-built GPT tools across the lending lifecycle and firm-wide functions, 'from deal structuring and term drafting to real-time query handling', targeting what it called a significant increase in firm-wide productivity in Q2 2025.
- The bank says it has used machine learning from inception through the proprietary technology of sister entity ONCI to assess complex credit scenarios, lending about $17 billion in the UK and US by May 2025 with a 29% efficiency ratio; by March 2026 cumulative lending exceeded $20 billion with cumulative principal losses of 0.045% over ten years.
- 2025 results (March 17, 2026): pre-tax profit £223 million, gross revenue £605.9 million, gross originations up 33% to £2.8 billion with 40% from the US, total facilities £7.2 billion; OakNorth credited 'various initiatives including a focus on AI' with a 10% improvement in operating leverage and an efficiency ratio of 26%, down from 29%.
- CEO Rishi Khosla said in the 2025 results that OakNorth 'started factoring in AI disruption impact into credit decisions in 2024'; a 2026 blog by debt-finance director Ian Fairclough says the core question on software deals is whether AI is 'a tailwind or a headwind', shaping structure, leverage and tenor.
- Tom Harris, previously CTO at Seccl and ClearBank, became CTO in January 2026 with a remit covering the OpenAI partnership and US expansion, per Fintech Futures; Anna Kuriakose is Chief Product Officer, and OakNorth completed a transaction with finance-automation platform Monite on March 10, 2026 to add AR/AP and expense tools to business banking.
- US expansion: lending began July 2023, the Federal Reserve and NYDFS authorised a New York representative office in August 2024, the US book reached $685 million at end-2024, and OakNorth agreed on March 17, 2025 to buy Community Unity Bank (Birmingham, Michigan) in a stock-for-stock deal; the Federal Reserve published bank-holding-company notices on June 24, 2025 and again on June 5, 2026, and the deal was still pending at the March 2026 results.
- OakNorth's US privacy notice states it may use AI and automated tools from third-party providers to process personal data for fraud prevention and financial-crime purposes.
What is ONCI credit intelligence plus custom GPT tools (OpenAI collaboration)?
OakNorth says it has used machine learning 'from day one' through the proprietary credit-intelligence technology of its sister entity ONCI to assess complex lower-mid-market credits, lending about $17 billion in ten years with cumulative principal losses of 0.045%. On May 7, 2025 it announced a collaboration with OpenAI to embed custom-built GPT tools from deal structuring and term drafting to real-time query handling, integrated with its existing stack; its 2025 results describe 'AI capabilities working across model providers' and credit a focus on AI for a 10% improvement in operating leverage, with the efficiency ratio moving from 29% to 26%.[1][2]
What has OakNorth done on AI, and when?
- Jun 5, 2026
Federal Reserve re-notices the restructured holding-company application[11]
A new notice lists OakNorth UK Holdings Limited, OakNorth Holdings Limited, OakNorth Interim Holdings Limited and OakNorth U.S. Holdings LLC applying to acquire Community Unity Bank and OakNorth Interim Bank, N.A.
- Apr 24, 2026
Debt-finance team publishes its AI lens on tech deals[6]
Director Ian Fairclough writes that whether AI is a tailwind or headwind now shapes structure, leverage and tenor, and that AI tools are part of the team's daily workflow, doing analytical groundwork that 'used to take days'.
- Mar 17, 2026
2025 results credit AI for efficiency gains[2]
Pre-tax profit £223 million; efficiency ratio improved from 29% to 26% with a 10% operating-leverage gain attributed in part to AI; 'AI capabilities working across model providers' listed among investments; Khosla says AI disruption has been factored into credit decisions since 2024.
- Mar 10, 2026
Monite transaction completed[5]
Monite's core technologies and product and engineering teams move to OakNorth to embed AR/AP and expense management into business banking, with first capabilities due in Q2 2026.
- Jan 5, 2026
Tom Harris appointed CTO[9]
Former Seccl and ClearBank CTO takes over technology initiatives including the OpenAI partnership and US expansion, per Fintech Futures; he said he would expand the engineering team.
- Jun 24, 2025
Federal Reserve publishes the bank-holding-company application[10]
Notice that OakNorth Holdings Limited and subsidiaries applied to become bank holding companies by acquiring Community Unity Bank and OakNorth Interim Bank, N.A.
- May 7, 2025
Collaboration with OpenAI announced[1]
Custom-built GPT tools to be deployed across digital lending, functional projects and firm-wide adoption; Khosla: 'we've used machine learning from day one'. OpenAI's Phil Watson said OakNorth was 'proving what's possible when AI is built into the core of commercial banking'.
- Mar 17, 2025
Agreement to acquire Community Unity Bank, Michigan[4]
Stock-for-stock purchase of the FDIC-insured Birmingham, Michigan bank, subject to regulatory approval; CUB CEO Greg Wernette to lead OakNorth's US bank.
- Mar 10, 2025
CEO tells American Banker a US charter is 'still of interest'[8]
Khosla said OakNorth was in active discussions on both de novo and acquisition routes, with the $9.8 billion-asset bank still funding US loans from its UK balance sheet.
- Mar 6, 2025
2024 results: £214.8 million pre-tax profit[3]
Gross new lending over £2.1 billion, cumulative facilities £12.5 billion, adjusted ROE 22%; OakNorth describes its data-and-analytics approach of applying larger-company lending methods to the lower mid-market.
- Aug 1, 2024
- Jul 1, 2023
- Sep 1, 2015
OakNorth launches with ML-based credit analysis[1]
The bank says it has leveraged ONCI's proprietary machine-learning technology to assess complex credit scenarios since its September 2015 launch (exact launch day not given in the source).
Where does OakNorth use AI today?
| System | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONCI machine-learning credit intelligence[1][2] | Proprietary technology of sister entity ONCI used since 2015 to assess complex lower-mid-market credit scenarios; OakNorth attributes about $20 billion of lending with 0.045% cumulative principal losses to this approach. | In production | Credit scoring & underwriting |
| Custom GPT tools across the lending lifecycle[1][6] | OpenAI collaboration to embed GPT tools in deal structuring, term drafting and real-time query handling, integrated with the existing stack; the 2026 blog says AI tools are part of daily team workflows. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI-disruption risk in credit decisions[2][6] | Since 2024 OakNorth has factored the impact of AI disruption on borrowers into credit decisions; on software deals the team asks whether AI is a tailwind or headwind before setting structure, leverage and tenor. | In production | Model risk management |
| Multi-provider model strategy[2] | The 2025 results list 'AI capabilities working across model providers' among the year's investments, alongside the OpenAI collaboration. | In production | Third-party & vendor AI |
| AI and automated tools for fraud and financial-crime screening[7] | OakNorth's US privacy notice says it may use AI services and automated analytical tools from third-party providers for fraud prevention and financial-crime purposes; no vendor or outcomes are disclosed. | In production | Fraud detection |
| Firm-wide AI adoption programme[1][2] | OakNorth described 'tribe-focused, functional-led and firmwide AI initiatives' targeting a productivity step-up from Q2 2025, and later credited AI with part of a 10% operating-leverage improvement. | In production | AI governance (general) |
Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.
What has OakNorth disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-tax profit 2025 | £223 million ($289 million)[2] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Efficiency ratio | 26% (2025), down from 29% (2024); 10% operating-leverage improvement attributed partly to AI[2] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Gross originations 2025 | £2.8 billion (+33%), 40% from the US[2] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Cumulative principal losses | 0.045% over ten years[2] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Cumulative lending | c.$17 billion (May 2025); over $20 billion (March 2026)[1][2] | Mar 17, 2026 |
| Pre-tax profit 2024 | £214.8 million ($271.6 million)[3] | Dec 31, 2024 |
| US loan portfolio | $685 million (from $180 million a year earlier)[8] | Dec 31, 2024 |
“At OakNorth, we've used machine learning from day one to transform how we understand and serve our customers.”[1]
Rishi Khosla · Co-founder and CEO, OakNorth · May 7, 2025
“We started factoring in AI disruption impact into credit decisions in 2024.”[2]
Rishi Khosla · Co-founder and CEO, OakNorth · Mar 17, 2026
“OakNorth is proving what's possible when AI is built into the core of commercial banking.”[1]
Phil Watson · Head of Digital Natives, EMEA, OpenAI · May 7, 2025
“The core question we ask on software and technology businesses is simple: is AI a tailwind or a headwind? The answer shapes everything – structure, leverage, tenor, and whether we're the right partner at all.”[6]
Ian Fairclough · Director of Debt Finance, OakNorth · Apr 24, 2026
Who runs AI at OakNorth?
Which regulators govern OakNorth's AI?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| UK (BoE / PRA / FCA) | OakNorth Bank plc is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA; its ML credit models and GPT tooling fall under the PRA's model-risk supervisory statement and the FCA's AI expectations. | PRA SS1/23 FCA AI Update (Apr 2024) 2026 BoE/FCA AI survey |
| Federal Reserve | The Federal Reserve authorised OakNorth's New York representative office in August 2024 and is reviewing its application to become a bank holding company by acquiring Community Unity Bank (notices June 2025 and June 2026). | SR 11-7 |
| NY DFS | NYDFS co-authorised the New York representative office in August 2024; its AI-cybersecurity industry letter applies to DFS-regulated entities. | DFS AI Cybersecurity Industry Letter (Oct 2024) |
| OCC | The pending structure includes OakNorth Interim Bank, National Association, a national bank that would bring OakNorth's US lending and credit models under OCC model-risk guidance if approved. | OCC Bulletin 2011-12 OCC Bulletin 2023-17 |
Linked authorities have a page in the AI Regulation Tracker; the others are named for completeness and not yet tracked.
What does the public record suggest about OakNorth's AI strategy?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.
01
The AI claims are tied to a measurable cost line
Unlike most neobank AI announcements, OakNorth attaches its AI push to a published efficiency ratio (29% to 26%) and a 10% operating-leverage gain, though it does not isolate AI's share of that improvement.
02
AI is a credit-risk input as well as a tool
Factoring AI disruption into borrower assessment since 2024 is unusual among lenders of this size and is documented in the CEO's results statement and a deal-team blog.
03
The underwriting engine sits in a sister company
ONCI, not the bank, owns the credit-intelligence technology; the bank's public record says little about how model governance is split between the two entities.
04
US bank status remains the open regulatory question
Fifteen months after the Community Unity Bank agreement, the Federal Reserve re-noticed the application in June 2026 under a restructured holding-company chain; until approval, US loans are booked on the UK balance sheet.
05
Generative AI outcomes are described qualitatively
Beyond the efficiency ratio, OakNorth has not published volumes, time savings or accuracy figures for its GPT tools; the 2026 blog says analytical work 'used to take days' is faster.
Does OakNorth use OpenAI?
Yes. On May 7, 2025 OakNorth announced a collaboration with OpenAI to embed custom-built GPT tools across its business, from deal structuring and term drafting to real-time query handling, integrated with its existing technology stack. Its March 2026 results also refer to AI capabilities working across model providers, and CTO Tom Harris, appointed January 2026, oversees the OpenAI partnership.
How does OakNorth use AI in lending decisions?
Two ways. Since its 2015 launch it has used the machine-learning credit-intelligence technology of sister entity ONCI to assess complex lower-mid-market credits, a model it credits with about $20 billion of lending and cumulative principal losses of 0.045% over ten years. Since 2024 it has also factored the impact of AI disruption on borrowers into credit decisions, asking on software deals whether AI is a tailwind or a headwind.
What is ONCI?
ONCI is OakNorth's sister entity whose proprietary machine-learning credit-intelligence technology the bank has used since inception to assess complex credit scenarios for businesses with roughly $1 million to $100 million in turnover. OakNorth's May 2025 OpenAI announcement describes ONCI's technology as the basis of its lending approach; the bank's own filings do not detail ONCI's external customers.
Has AI made OakNorth more efficient?
OakNorth says so. Its 2025 results (March 17, 2026) attribute a 10% improvement in operating leverage to 'various initiatives including a focus on AI', with the efficiency ratio improving from 29% to 26% while pre-tax profit reached £223 million. The bank has not published figures isolating AI's contribution.
Who regulates OakNorth?
OakNorth Bank plc is authorised by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA. In the US, the Federal Reserve and the New York Department of Financial Services authorised its New York representative office in August 2024, and the Federal Reserve is reviewing its application to become a bank holding company by acquiring Community Unity Bank of Birmingham, Michigan, noticed in June 2025 and again in June 2026.
Is OakNorth a bank in the United States?
Not yet. OakNorth has lent in the US since July 2023 from its UK balance sheet, which CEO Rishi Khosla called 'imperfect, but not significantly so' in March 2025. It agreed to buy FDIC-insured Community Unity Bank in March 2025, subject to approval; the 2025 results in March 2026 still described the deal as pending, and 40% of 2025 originations came from the US.
Who leads AI and technology at OakNorth?
CEO and co-founder Rishi Khosla fronts the AI strategy. Tom Harris, formerly CTO at Seccl and ClearBank, joined as CTO in January 2026 with the OpenAI partnership in his remit. Anna Kuriakose is Chief Product Officer and led the March 2026 Monite transaction. OakNorth has not publicly named a head of AI in the sources reviewed.
- OakNorth collaborates with OpenAI to strengthen its AI-led digital banking and deliver superior outcomes for lower middle-market businesses
- OakNorth 2025 Results: £223M Profit, 33% Origination Growth
- OakNorth pre-tax profits surge to £215m ($272m) as it surpasses £12.5bn ($15.7bn) in lending and continues its US expansion
- OakNorth deepens support for US lower mid-market businesses with acquisition of Michigan-based, Community Unity Bank
- OakNorth Acquires Monite to Boost Finance Automation
- What AI means for your next tech deal
- Privacy notice - OakNorth Bank - US
- High-growth, U.K.-based OakNorth seeks U.S. charter
- OakNorth appoints former Seccl exec Tom Harris as CTO
- Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies (OakNorth Holdings Limited / Community Unity Bank)
- Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies (OakNorth UK Holdings Limited / Community Unity Bank)
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