Backbase has acquired Kasisto, a New York-based developer of agentic AI software for banks, folding the company’s platform, team and financial-services intelligence into its AI-native Banking OS.
Backbase did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition, which it announced on 23 June 2026. The combined agentic banking suite is available to existing and future customers immediately.
Kasisto is known for KAIgentic, an agentic AI platform aimed at banks and credit unions, alongside KaiGPT, a proprietary large language model tuned for banking.
Its software has been used by lenders including J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, TD and Westpac. Lance Berks has led the company as chief executive since October 2024.
The deal extends a strategy Backbase set out in April, when it launched its AI-native Banking OS, a platform that sits above a bank’s core systems to coordinate work across customers, employees and AI agents.
Backbase frames the Kasisto acquisition as a way to embed banking-specific agents directly into that operating system.
How the combined platform is meant to work
Both companies argue that most banks have so far deployed AI agents in isolated pockets that can answer queries but cannot complete the underlying task.
Backbase says the combination is built to close that gap, handling a request from the initial customer intent through to a governed resolution across channels such as chat, messaging and voice.
Governance seems central to the companies’ case. Backbase says Kasisto’s agents operate within banking-specific compliance controls, applying eligibility checks, policy enforcement and audit logging before an action executes. The company describes the combined product as the only AI-native solution built for the full complexity of agentic banking in regulated financial services, a claim that is difficult to verify independently.
For banks in Singapore and across Asia Pacific, where regulators have pressed institutions to adopt AI with clear accountability and audit trails, the emphasis on governance is likely to matter most.
The acquisition also deepens Backbase’s presence in the United States, its largest growth market, by adding Kasisto’s North American customer base and engineering team.
“This acquisition sharpens our position as the strategic partner for banks serious about AI transformation,”
said Jouk Pleiter, chief executive and founder of Backbase.
“Kasisto brings proven agentic AI and deep financial services intelligence.”
“Agentic AI will reshape banking over the next decade,”
said Berks.
“Together, Backbase and Kasisto represent the convergence of the AI-native banking OS and purpose-built agentic AI and financial services intelligence.”
Backbase, founded in 2003 by Jouk Pleiter and headquartered in Amsterdam, reported more than US$350 million in revenue in 2025 and says more than 120 banks run on its platform across retail, commercial, private banking and wealth management.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Sodiq99art via Magnific
