Bank of AmericaSecond quarter Profits A phone call on Tuesday (July 14) was dominated by a simple message: US consumers are spending, companies are borrowing, capital markets are open, and the economy is proving stronger than expected.
This backdrop helped the bank exceed its earnings targets. But under the embrace of victory, the CEO Brian Moynihan And the financial manager Alastair Borthwick He also provided insights into artificial intelligence, private credit, consumer risk and the bank’s increasingly digital operating model.
For Bank of America, AI has become a revenue driver and productivity tool. Borthwick said the bank was benefiting from financing “huge capital investment and infrastructure building” around AI, particularly through investment banking and… Global markets. Internally, Bank of America employees produce more than 400,000 AI claims daily. The bank has approved more than 300 AI use cases, including 114 live AI applications and 34 fully implemented applications.
Management said the payoff should extend beyond cost reduction.
“We believe this is what will come out of this: growth, efficiency, risk management and flexibility,” Borthwick said.
AI already makes software development more productive, Moynihan added, so the same technology budget should produce more code over time. However, the technology needs controls.
“It’s a huge benefit,” Moynihan said. “It has to be managed carefully. Your data has to be perfect. You have to have your own rule base, so you don’t make mistakes.”
Private credit also appeared, although the administration used the broader phrase “private capital lending.” Some highly leveraged activities have moved out of the banking system, but parts of them are returning on terms that banks can accept, Moynihan said. More broadly, he said fears of credit problems had not materialized.
“The current issues, whether it was real estate four or five years ago or whether it was private equity lending and all those things, are not surfacing the way people thought they would,” Moynihan said.
The consumer image was similarly stable. Borthwick said card charge and delinquency collections improved compared to the previous quarter and the previous year. Bank of America’s credit card debit rate fell to 3.55%, from 3.82% a year ago, while early and late-stage delinquencies improved for the fifth straight quarter. At the same time, combined credit and debit card spending rose 9% to $266 billion, and management said broader consumer spending was up more than 6% from a year ago during the second quarter.
Digital banking stars in Q2
Digital banking is increasingly associated with a bank’s financing advantage. Bank of America reports nearly 50 million active digital banking users, of which 24.6 million are active Erica (AI Assistant) users and 4.4 billion digital logins during this quarter. Seventy percent of consumer sales are digitally enabled.
Borthwick said digital tools, security and rewards help the bank win operating accounts and maintain an appropriate mix of deposits. It is a reminder that digital participation is not just a service channel, but an essential part of deposit economics.
Regarding the economy, the bank’s research team raised its 2026 U.S. growth forecast to 2.2%, Moynihan said, describing the economy as “more sustainable than expected,” supported by consumer spending, artificial intelligence-driven investment and lower energy costs. He also identified inflation and tight monetary policy as the main risks.
Borthwick said the growth in business loans was broader than building AI, with business banking, merchant banking and corporate banking all contributing.
Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins were not discussed in prepared comments or analyst Q&As. During the call, Bank of America’s digital story remained centered around Erica, cell, Cash Pro and AI-powered banking instead of cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.
As for the headline numbers, Bank of America reported net income of $9.1 billion, up 27% year over year, on revenue of $31.6 billion, up 15%. Diluted earnings per share rose 34% to $1.21. Net interest income rose 9% to $16 billion, investment banking fees jumped 50% to $2.1 billion, and the bank provided 6.6% operating leverage with a 17% return on tangible common stock.
