AI Agents: The Open Secret of Winning Banks in 2025

 
Boardrooms are buzzing about artificial intelligence (AI), large language models, and futuristic promises. However, in banking, where compliance, credit risk, and customer trust can’t be gambled on hype, the sharper question is – what actually works?

The Newgen Lens – Here’s How We See It

An AI agent isn’t a chatbot or a black box that makes big calls on your behalf. It’s a task-focused, goal-oriented component that fits into your workflows, one that can interpret structured and unstructured data, apply rules, and execute decisions or actions within clearly defined boundaries.

According to Gartner, by 2028, 33% of enterprise apps will include agentic AI, making up to 15% of decisions autonomous.

While agentic systems continue to evolve, task-focused agents are already delivering value in banking.

Real Impact in Banking

Let’s explore some real use cases where an AI agent empowers banks to work better with speed, clarity, consistency, and control.

Credit Decisioning

An AI agent cuts through the paperwork jungle, automating verification, cross-checking profiles against policies, and spotting red flags in seconds. The agent:

• Scores risk instantly using historical data and business rules
• Fast-tracks low-risk cases
• Spots red flags missed by manual review

Early Warning System

Conventional risk monitoring systems provide reactive alerts-typically only flagging issues after financial damage has occurred. However, an AI agent spots troubles before they start tracking EMI delays, balance drops, and spending pattern shifts that signal borrower stress. The agent analyzes subtle warnings alongside economic trends, highlighting risks while there’s still time to act. Additionally, it:

• Predicts risk months early using behavioral and macroeconomic data
• Ranks threats by urgency (from early warnings to red alerts)
• Surfaces hidden crisis patterns across your portfolio

Loan Collections

Most collection teams rely on generic strategies, treating all delinquencies with the same approach. However, an AI agent introduces data-driven precision by:

Assessing recovery potential using behavioral scores, payment history, and customer responsiveness
Prioritizing accounts from low-effort recoveries to complex case
Recommending tailored actions—personalized reminders, payment plans, or escalations

An AI agent seamlessly integrates into workflows and:

• Ensures right-time intervention with optimal contact method
• Leverages adaptive strategies based on customer behavior
• Enables continuous optimization from every interaction

Validation via Know Your Customer (KYC)

Manual onboarding bottlenecks frustrate customers and increase compliance risks. However, an AI agent eliminates friction by:

• Automating document processing, including classification, data extraction, and validation
• Running instant checks against global anti-money laundering (AML) databases
• Smartly routing cases for standard or enhanced due diligence

The agent:

• Validates every data point against regulatory requirements
• Flags discrepancies in real time
• Maintains full audit trails for compliance reporting

Auto Document Checker for Trade Finance

Manual document validation creates costly delays and compliance risks in trade operations. The AI agent transforms the process by automating UCP-600/LC compliance checks, cross-verifying trade documents, such as bills of lading, invoices, and certificates of origin.

An AI agent:

• Enables real-time validation against LC terms
• Ensures smart exception handling for complex cases
• Extends seamless integration with SWIFT and core trade platforms

Learn about Newgen’s AI Agents for Banks

Making AI Agents Work

You know the potential. Now, let’s explore how AI agents deliver results. Ultimately, it’s not about AI; it’s about your AI. The best agents are designed to ACT with PURPOSE. However, their effectiveness depends on the environment you plug them into, including your data, policies, oversight structure, and the ability to define where automation stops and human judgment steps in. The most intelligent agent stumbles when:

• Rules aren’t clear
• Underlying process is fragmented
• Context goes missing

Even the best of AI agents thrive on:

• Coded guardrails
• Intelligent governance
• System designed for both precision and exceptions without breaking flow

NewgenONE AI Agents: Built for the Journey, Not Just the Task

AI adoption isn’t about planting random tech seeds and hoping something grows. The winning banks are cultivating intelligent systems that root naturally in their soil, bear faster decision fruit, and always allow the gardener to be in control.

That’s exactly where NewgenONE AI Agents for Financial Services comes to the fore.

Each agent has been designed not just to automate a step, but to work across the entire journey, whether that means:

• Taking a loan from application to decision with minimal touchpoints
• Identifying early warning signals before they slip through the cracks
• Guiding collection strategies that adapt to behavior, not just balance
• Ensuring every trade document aligns with UCP-600 without a second guess

The agents are built on a strong foundation, one that prioritizes:

• Explainable AI, combining business rules, workflows, and transparent AI decision-making
• Seamless integration, designed to work with your existing systems and workflows
• Auditable decisioning for real-time, consistent operations with full monitoring capabilities
• Policy governance frameworks, which keep everything aligned with your policies
• Input/output control agentic shield for managing all data interfaces
• Low-code platform, offering scalability and flexibility per your business needs

What’s Your Next Strategic Move?

Sometimes all it takes is the right agent in the right place to make everything work better. At Newgen, we are committed to creating offerings that solve the most complex problems.