If you’re looking for bank stocks to buy, I can safely say that you can cross SIVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) off your list.
On Friday, March 10, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as the receiver. As a result, the FDIC closed Silicon Valley Bank’s branches and offices for the weekend. While Silicon Valley Bank was expected to reopen on Monday, the turmoil was exacerbated when news broke Sunday that federal regulators had taken control over another bank, New York-based Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY).
Regulators reclassified both banks as systemically important to ensure consumers’ deposits, but the damage was done. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSEARCA:KRE) is down 23% in the past three trading days.
I have to admit that I did not see this coming. I’ve been a fan of SIVB for many years. I first wrote about it in 2012. In 2013, I included it on a list of the five best stocks to buy for the next 20 years. Through the end of 2021, it didn’t disappoint. Now, it’s nothing but a memory.
Well, if you’re still on the hunt for bank stocks to buy after the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank, the three below are using artificial intelligence to grow their businesses. Here’s hoping we don’t have any more bank runs. My bruised ego can’t take it.
| COF | Capital One Financial | $93.32 |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase | $131.25 |
| RY | Royal Bank of Canada | $95.62 |
Capital One Financial (COF)
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) has been leveraging data analytics since it was founded as a credit card company in 1988.
In November, Harvard University MBA student Anand Trivedi wrote an article about Capital One transforming traditional banking. Trivedi points out that the company appointed its first chief data officer in 2002, before other big banks.
And Capital One launched its intelligent assistant, Eno, in 2017. According to Trivedi, it “was the banking industry’s first, natural language SMS chatbot that has evolved into a multichannel solution with numerous capabilities.”
While we take many modern banking conveniences for granted today, Trivedi notes that Eno “helps customers check their bank balances, track purchases, pay bills online, connect with spending, and proactively monitor their accounts and keep them secure.”
Capital One continues to innovate. In fact, it made Fast Company’s 2023 Most Innovative Companies list in both the business services and travel and hospitality categories.
“In June 2022, Capital One, the $35.5 billion (market cap) credit-card and financial services player, launched its own B2B software business to help other large companies use cloud and data management tools that have been a key part of Capital One’s own transformation into a cloud-based business,” wrote Fast Company’s Lydia Dishman.
Specifically, Capital One partnered with cloud-based data platform provider Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) to create Slingshot to help clients manage Snowflake’s data. Dishman notes that Slingshot “enables teams to operate independently but with what it calls guardrails, managing workflows and how queries are structured in order to save time and money.”
Capital One is helping its clients do better because it knows that will lead to increased business. In 2022, the company’s net revenue increased by 13% to $34.25 billion.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
Although JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) recently curbed the use of ChatGPT by its employees, this is a precaution that it implements with all third-party software. The bank is a big believer in AI for its business. It uses AI and machine learning to deliver a better customer experience while making the bank more efficient.
“Machine learning can improve everything we do here, so we want to do it responsibly,” Drew Cukor, JPMorgan’s head of AI/ML transformation and engagement, told MIT Technology Review in February. “We view responsible AI (RAI) as a critical component of our AI strategy.”
The bank uses AI and other technological innovations to deliver better products for customers more quickly. It is doing this by leveraging the existing banking platform to create a new one that can process real-time data faster, enhancing the bank’s scale while allowing it to innovate.
“We also see products that are going to take more advantage of intelligent uses of real-time data to react to the customer quickly, to provide insights to them in a real-time basis to make them have the most relevant data, to make the best experience decision for their lives,” Chad Ballard, JPMorgan’s head of global platform tech, consumer and community banking, told MIT Technology Review in March.
So, not only is the bank using machine learning, AI and data analytics to create better products, it is using this technology to help its customers make better decisions about their financial situations. Ultimately, what’s good for the customer will be good for the bank, so put JPM on your list of bank stocks to buy on the dip.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY)
Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) was one of the earliest North American banks to innovate through AI. In 2016, RBC created Borealis AI as the research and development arm of the bank. It collaborates and supports ongoing academic research into AI and machine learning.
Today, Borealis AI is dedicated to “achieving state-of-the-art in machine learning” to help the bank responsibly develop better products for its customers.
In November, RBC announced, in conjunction with Borealis AI, the launch of the Aiden Arrival algorithm to be used on the firm’s AI-based electronic trading platform. The algorithm was developed to “deliver a real-world AI solution to help improve trading results and insights for clients in a measurable and explainable way.”
“When RBC Capital Markets brought Aiden platform to market for our clients, it was a big scientific milestone that demonstrated how a brand-new AI technology could succeed in extremely complex environments,” said Dr. Foteini Agrafioti, chief science officer at RBC and head of Borealis AI.
The bank has a history of investing in AI and other new technologies. For example, in 2018, RBC committed $2.5 billion in technology spending in a single year to elevate the company’s digital offerings. At the time, it had 6.5 million active digital users. As of Q4 2022 (October year-end), RBC had 8.4 million active digital users, a 6.6% compound annual growth rate.
RBC is a bank to count on for organic growth, making it one of the better bank stocks to buy in this challenging environment.
On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.