Palo Alto Founder Eyes Liberty Bank for AI Banking Experiment

Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Zuk has sought approval from U.S. regulators to acquire the largest stake in Irvine, California-based Liberty Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday (April 13).

Zuk, who retired last year and left Palo Alto Networks’ board, aims to invest in the bank to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools for financial services, according to the report.

Liberty Bank did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

According to the WSJ report, Zuk is a co-founder of agentic AI platform eOS and is an investor in Israeli lender esh Bank, which now uses eOS’ technology.

esh Bank is being acquired by Israeli credit card company Isracard, per the report.

eOS’ agentic solution encompasses core banking, payments, loans, compliance and other banking capabilities, according to the company’s website. It is designed as a single, cloud-native platform that can replace fragmented vendor stacks, according to the site.

The platform has powered esh Bank Israel since 2022, including deposits, payments, loans, liquidity management and more, per the site.

eOS said three weeks ago in a post on LinkedIn that Isracard has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire esh and to make a “significant investment” in eOS.

“At eOS (esh Group) we are proud to serve as the technology foundation behind this transformation,” the firm said in its post. “As the company building the core banking platform, we are enabling a modern, scalable infrastructure designed to support the next generation of banking — reshaping how financial institutions are built and operated.”

PYMNTS reported in September that esh Bank is offering a banking experience in which it shares with its customers half of the revenues generated from the balances in their current accounts.

The bank said at the time that its offerings are powered by its eOS technology platform, which it said boosts operational efficiency by eliminating data silos and manual processes.

Zuk said in a September press release announcing this move: “Esh Bank is an example of how it’s possible to transform an entire industry — the way a bank operates and the way it serves customers. It’s not just a new bank, but a new way of thinking about efficiency, innovation and value.”