MUFG Announces AI-Driven Business Transformation and New Retail Services Initiative
MUFG Bank, a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with OpenAI. Through this agreement, MUFG Bank will also begin initiatives to create innovative customer experiences in retail banking.
Since the October 2024 announcement of an alliance, both companies have been conducting trials for bank-wide employee adoption of ChatGPT Enterprise and iterating on product specifications. Based on these results, the partners have now concluded a strategic collaboration agreement and are transitioning from the trial phase to full-scale operational deployment.
Starting January 2026, all approximately 35,000 employees of MUFG Bank will be able to use ChatGPT Enterprise in their daily work, with rollout progressing in phases. This will enhance efficiency and sophistication across a wide range of operations including internal document creation, research responses, customer service, and analytical tasks. MUFG Bank will progressively create an environment where each employee can focus on higher value-added judgment, planning, and dialogue with customers.
To further accelerate AI adoption throughout the organization, both companies will establish a project team. Through the provision of educational programs and support for MUFG's company-wide AI adoption movement "Hello, AI @MUFG", both companies will collaborate in developing AI Champions—specialized personnel who can independently promote AI utilization and drive organizational transformation.
Additionally, through this strategic collaboration, MUFG Bank will conduct quarterly strategic business reviews across three pillars: strategy, products, and customer-facing services. First, the partners will review MUFG's AI strategy in line with the latest technological trends. On the product front, MUFG will be able to access and begin implementing OpenAI's latest models and features at the earliest opportunity. Furthermore, MUFG Bank will work together with OpenAI's specialist teams to co-create customer-facing services.
Through these initiatives, MUFG will steadily advance its transformation into an "AI-Native company"—its stated goal—and dramatically strengthen the digital foundation across the entire group.
New Retail Customer Experience Initiatives
With this agreement, MUFG Bank is also launching initiatives to create innovative customer experiences in retail banking. Through the retail service brand "emuto," AI will provide personalized support for everyday financial matters, aligned with each individual's lifestyle and values, delivering a customer experience that anyone can use naturally and comfortably.
Specifically, MUFG Bank will advance consideration of the following four initiatives:
AI Concierge in MUFG Apps
MUFG Bank will implement an "AI Concierge" equipped with the latest AI in apps provided by MUFG group companies. This will go beyond simply answering questions to provide increasingly personalized support the more customers use it. In the future, by integrating data from each app, AI will be able to understand the entire transaction relationship and make accurate proposals from any app.
Initially, MUFG Bank plans to implement this in the digital bank scheduled to launch next fiscal year, aiming to create an AI-native digital bank.
Application-Dedicated AI Chat "emuto Quick Start"
MUFG Bank will implement a service that comprehensively supports account opening and service applications for various MUFG companies through AI recommendations and AI chat on a dedicated MUFG page. From among emuto's various services, MUFG Bank will guide customers to services that match their needs, including recommendations for advantageous programs, building a system that allows even first-time users to start with emuto in an easy-to-understand and reassuring manner.
Apps in ChatGPT Integration
MUFG Bank will explore integration with "Apps in ChatGPT," announced by OpenAI in October. By connecting MUFG group company apps to the ChatGPT framework, MUFG Bank aims to provide a new financial experience where household budget management and investment consultations tailored to customers' situations can naturally occur within the flow of dialogue with ChatGPT.
Agentic Commerce Support
MUFG Bank will support the commerce standard (Agentic Commerce Protocol) that enables completion of product search to purchase on ChatGPT, aiming to implement various MUFG payment services as payment methods that merchants can integrate on ChatGPT.
Conclusion
MUFG and OpenAI will maximize the utilization of both companies' strengths and resources to lead innovation in financial services and contribution to society, aiming to establish a new world-leading standard for finance × AI with an eye toward a sustainable future.
Norbert Gehrke
