Bank of Ireland is scaling up its use of AI across the Group, speeding up card services, strengthening fraud detection and powering new tools for customers. The bank says the technology is also helping colleagues work more efficiently, with almost 7,000 now trained on Microsoft Copilot.

AI is significantly improving the handling of chargebacks, the process used when a customer disputes a card transaction, with over four in five cases now closed in three days. Its Benefits Finder tool uses AI to help customers identify potential tax savings and has been used 31,000 times, identifying €55 million in potential tax refunds.

The structural driver is moving from individual AI use cases to scale. AI-powered scam detection now assesses around 2.9 million customer transactions every day. In 2025 the bank said its systems assessed about one billion card transactions and helped prevent €9.7 million in fraud.

“As we accelerate our use of AI, we are moving beyond individual use cases and building the capability to use the technology at scale across the Bank,” said Prag Sharma, Chief AI Officer at Bank of Ireland. “The important thing for us is applying AI where it can make a genuine difference.”

Use of AI in the contact centre has reduced call transfers by more than 40 per cent, connecting customers with the help they need faster. The bank also delivered 127 million AI-powered spending insights to customers last year to give them better control over their finances.

Colleagues using Copilot for research and summarising information save about 30 minutes a day on average, and some have completed specialist learning with UCD and the Cambridge Spark AI programme. The Group’s AI Centre of Excellence acts as the central hub, prioritising AI opportunities and ensuring they run on a secure, scalable and well-governed platform.

Bank of Ireland Group plc is headquartered in Dublin, trades on Euronext Dublin and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker BIRG, and reported net income of €1.12 billion for 2025. Sharma joined as the bank’s first Chief AI Officer in October, from Citigroup.

For the sector, the rollout reflects banks measuring AI by customer outcomes, such as faster dispute resolution, fewer call transfers and earlier fraud detection.

Source: Bank of Ireland / Think Business