JPMorgan Chase retained the top position in the global banking AI race for the fifth consecutive year, according to the 2026 Evident AI Index. The ranking highlights how financial institutions are moving rapidly from AI experimentation to wider deployment.
Capital One retained second place, while Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) remained third. Commonwealth Bank of Australia held fourth place and remained the only Asia-Pacific lender in the top 10. UBS, ranked sixth, was the only European bank among the top 10.
The latest ranking assesses 50 of the world's largest banks using 75 indicators across four pillars: Talent, Innovation, Leadership and Transparency. Evident said JPMorgan ranked first or second across all four categories, helping it extend its lead over Capital One.
Capital One led the index in Talent and Innovation, but JPMorgan's broader performance allowed it to maintain the overall leadership position.
The result also underlines the growing dominance of North American lenders in banking AI. Six US banks feature in the top 10, alongside two Canadian institutions, Commonwealth Bank and UBS.
AI deployment across the banking sector has accelerated sharply over the past year. Evident said the average bank's index score increased 26%, or 9.6 points, year-on-year. The pace was almost three times the moving average recorded between 2023 and 2025.
The shift indicates that banks are moving beyond building AI infrastructure and testing individual applications. Leading institutions are now concentrating on deploying AI across their operations while establishing controls that can support wider adoption.
The gap between leading banks is also narrowing. Evident's analysis shows that the spread between the highest-ranked bank and the 10th-ranked institution was 25% smaller than a year earlier.
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