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Australia’s largest bank, Commonwealth Bank (CBA), has partnered with the world’s most well-known AI firm, OpenAI, promising to deliver more secure and better banking solutions for customers.
The bank announced the multi-year partnership with the AI giant yesterday (13 August), announcing that CBA staff will get access to “OpenAI’s advanced AI tools” such as ChatGPT and that it will be investing in AI training for its staff.
“To be globally competitive, Australia must embrace this new era of rapid technological change. Our strategic partnership with OpenAI reflects our commitment to bringing world-class capabilities to Australia, and exploring how AI can enhance customer experiences, better protect our customers, and unlock new opportunities for Australian businesses,” said Matt Comyn, CEO of Commonwealth Bank.
“Equipping our people with the most advanced AI tools and capability is a key objective of this strategic partnership. We will continue to invest in our people and their AI proficiency so they can better support our customers, while building their skills and experience.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pushed Australia to increase its AI uptake and become a global AI powerhouse.
The CEO also commented on the partnership, expressing his excitement and getting AI in the hands of more Australians.
“Commbank is one of Australia’s largest institutions, serving millions of people and businesses every day,” said Altman.
“We’re excited to work together to put advanced AI into the hands of more Australians, making it more useful and impactful for people and businesses across the country.”
CBA’s partnership with OpenAI comes after the bank cut a number of roles to make room for AI.
“Our investment in technology, including AI, is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres,” a CBA spokesman said regarding the voice bot.
“By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience.
“To meet the changing needs of our customers ... we review the skills we need and how we’re organised to deliver the best customer experiences and outcomes. That means some roles and work can change.”
Last month, the CBA also cut 304 staff of its 38,000 in Australia, before creating 110 new jobs in India, which critics have said is the bank’s push to lower labour costs by pushing work offshore, despite record profits of $9.8 billion in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal year.
The latest announcement of cuts is the first time the Australian Finance Sector Union (FSU) has been notified of redundancies related to AI.
“Just when we think CBA can’t sink any lower, they start cutting jobs because of AI on top of sneakily offshoring work to India,” said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.
“If this is what [CBA CEO] Matt Comyn calls productivity, we’re seriously concerned about his place at the national productivity roundtable.”
“Workers want a tech-savvy bank, but they expect to be part of the change, not replaced by it.”
“There is a human cost to this. You can’t just replace frontline jobs with a voice bot and expect the same service for customers.”
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