Narmi plans AI tool for faster bank account-opening reviews

Narmi said it will launch AI Decision Assist, an artificial intelligence capability intended to speed account-opening reviews for banks and credit unions, in the third quarter of 2026. The digital banking platform provider said early use of the tool indicates approval rates can be as much as 6% higher, while initial manual review times can fall from hours to minutes.

The product is aimed at a process that remains operationally heavy for financial institutions, where new-account applications often require identity, risk and compliance checks before staff approve, flag or decline an applicant. Narmi said the tool reviews applications first, assesses identity and compliance-related information, and then gives recommendations to human staff who retain responsibility for final decisions.

The company described AI Decision Assist as an agentic AI feature, meaning the system is designed to carry out defined tasks within a workflow rather than provide only passive analysis. In this case, Narmi said the system gathers and evaluates information that employees would otherwise review manually, then presents a recommended outcome for institutional review.

Narmi said the recommendations are explainable and auditable, with visibility into the basis for each conclusion. That structure is intended to help financial institutions show that decisions are consistent with their internal policies and regulatory obligations, according to the company.

Configured around each institution

The company said the tool can be adjusted to reflect a bank or credit union’s own risk tolerance and operating procedures. Narmi said AI Decision Assist is grounded in an institution’s past decisions, including applications previously approved, flagged or declined, so that the system reflects how that institution has handled similar cases.

That design is intended to distinguish the product from generic decisioning systems, according to Narmi. The company said the tool is meant to support staff rather than replace them, with employees continuing to exercise oversight and accountability over account-opening outcomes.

Chris Griffin, Narmi’s co-founder, said account opening remains among the more time-consuming workflows for financial institutions because teams often have to draw information from multiple systems before making a decision. He said AI Decision Assist is designed to fit into existing processes and reduce the administrative burden involved in review work.

Future additions

Narmi said planned enhancements include features that could request supporting documents from applicants and address points in the application process that may cause applicants to abandon an account opening. The company did not provide further timing for those additions beyond the planned availability of AI Decision Assist in the third quarter of 2026.

The announcement places account-opening decision support among the banking workflows where vendors are applying AI to reduce repetitive review work while preserving human control. For community banks and credit unions, the operational case depends on whether such tools can shorten processing times without weakening compliance documentation or institutional oversight.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.