OpenAI lands one of banking’s largest AI deployments with BBVA expansion

OpenAI has expanded its banking footprint through a deal that will bring ChatGPT Enterprise to all 120,000 BBVA employees, up from the 11,000 staff members already using the platform.

According to OpenAI, the multi-year agreement with BBVA will extend ChatGPT Enterprise across the bank’s operations in 25 countries and support the development of new AI-powered tools for customer service, risk analysis, software development, and internal operations.

The deployment represents a tenfold increase from BBVA’s current rollout and ranks among the largest generative AI implementations in the financial services sector. OpenAI said the bank will also work directly with its product, research, and technology teams as it expands AI across customer-facing and internal functions.

“We were pioneers in the digital and mobile transformation, and we are now entering the AI era with even greater ambition. Our alliance with OpenAI accelerates the native integration of artificial intelligence across the bank to create a smarter, more proactive, and completely personalized banking experience, anticipating the needs of every client,” – Carlos Torres Vila, Chairman, BBVA.

The agreement arrives as OpenAI continues to deepen its presence across financial services. Just one day earlier, payments giant Visa announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI as part of its new agentic commerce initiative, designed to enable secure Visa payments inside AI-driven shopping experiences.

BBVA expands AI rollout after early results

Nearly two years after the first deployment began, OpenAI said BBVA had already rolled out thousands of custom GPTs across the organization. The bank initially introduced 3,300 ChatGPT accounts in May 2024 before expanding access to 11,000 employees.

OpenAI reported that workers using the tools saved close to three hours per week on routine tasks, while more than 80% of users engaged with the platform daily.

Building on those results, BBVA will now extend ChatGPT Enterprise to its entire workforce. The rollout includes access to OpenAI’s latest models, privacy and security controls, and tools that allow employees to create internal AI agents connected to BBVA systems.

Additional training programs will also be developed under the agreement to support adoption across different departments and business units.

“BBVA is a strong example of how a large financial institution can adopt AI with real ambition and speed,” said Sam Altman.

“With this expansion of our work together, BBVA will embed our AI into the core of their products and operations to enhance the overall banking experience for their customers.”

OpenAI pushes further into enterprise and banking services

Beyond workplace productivity, OpenAI said BBVA is using its models to build customer-facing services. The bank has already launched an AI assistant called Blue, which helps customers manage accounts, cards, and other banking tasks through natural-language interactions.

As part of the latest partnership, BBVA is also exploring ways for customers to interact directly with banking products and services through ChatGPT.

The announcement adds another large enterprise customer to OpenAI’s growing commercial business. OpenAI said more than one million business customers, including Deutsche Telekom, Virgin Atlantic, and Accenture, now use its products.

Growing enterprise adoption comes as OpenAI prepares for a possible public market debut. Earlier this week, reports said the company had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering and could seek a valuation of up to $1 trillion.