Executive Spotlight: Sam Sidhu of Customers Bank – Commercial Observer

Sam Sidhu, CEO of Customers Bank, sat down with Commercial Observer to discuss the bank’s momentum across diversified loan growth, the nationwide rollout of its AI-powered credit underwriting system to accelerate commercial lending, and how its cubiX cash management platform continues to drive strategic institutional relationships.

Commercial Observer: In your latest financial results, Customers Bank outpaced broader industry loan growth, led primarily by fund finance, health care, and commercial real estate. Given the shifting macroeconomic and interest rate landscape in 2026, which specific asset subclasses or geographic markets do you view as the top financing opportunities for the bank over the next 12 to 18 months?

SEE ALSO: When Will Rising Interest Rates Impact Pricing? Follow the Contracts.

Sam Sidhu: Simply put, we have never bet on a single asset class. Our platform is diversified by design, and the mix of top contributors shifts from quarter to quarter. In the third quarter, loans grew 14 percent year-over-year to a record $18.5 billion, led by fund finance, health care, and commercial real estate, and we stayed disciplined on structure and pricing.

Loan demand across the franchise remains strong as well, and I expect those same engines to keep firing. Fund finance and health care are specialized businesses where our teams know the sponsors and operators well. On the commercial real estate side, we are being selective. With higher rates, we are closely monitoring borrower capacity and focusing on experienced sponsors where we can serve the entire relationship across lending, deposits and payments.

Geographically, the West Coast is a priority. Our new offices in Irvine, Sherman Oaks, Sacramento, Reno and Las Vegas put us in high-growth markets, alongside our New York real estate roots. This year’s recruiting class spans 12 teams, and the pipelines they have built give us real momentum heading into 2027.

Of course, the topic of the year is the adoption of AI and AI agents. Customers Bank recently captured industry attention by using a multi-agent credit underwriting system to slash select commercial and commercial real estate loan closing timelines from 30 to 60 days down to just seven days. As you broadly scale this capability, how has this friction reduction altered your deal-win rates in highly competitive real estate markets, and what has been the feedback from sponsors?

We are in a phase of reimagining and automating our workflows, and lending is where we began that journey. Earlier this year, we piloted an AI-powered closing process that closed select commercial and commercial real estate loans in seven days, compared to the typical 30 to 60 days. We reached that milestone ahead of schedule and, in the third quarter, scaled the process by adding functionality and increasing utilization. 

Speed matters most to sponsors when timing decides the deal. A faster, more predictable close gives a borrower certainty, and it frees our credit analysts and relationship managers to spend less time on handoffs and more time with the client. Humans stay in the loop, are accountable for every decision, and review every AI-assisted credit memo. 

Your new banking teams have been highly successful in onboarding large institutional deposits, bolstered by the cubiX platform. How are these advanced cash management capabilities and improved efficiency ratios translating into a competitive advantage for commercial real estate developers and investors looking for financing?

Our commercial banking teams and cubiX give clients one relationship that covers credit, deposits and payments, with a dedicated relationship manager who brings the full strength of the bank. The teams we’ve recruited since 2023 now hold about $4.3 billion in deposits and added roughly $415 million in the third quarter alone. CubiX accounts grew 19 percent in the quarter, with real estate and mortgage finance driving new client growth. Those two verticals now represent more than 30 percent of cubiX balances.

For a developer or investor, that means a bank embedded in daily operations, with 24/7 instant payments, programmable subaccounts, and real estate transaction settlement, can get your money moving when the deal moves. A bank that holds your accounts understands your cash flow, and that helps us structure financing and move faster. Our efficiency ratio improved by about 340 basis points in the quarter, and revenue per employee is up 13 percent year-over-year. That gives us room to keep investing in the technology and talent our clients feel every day. The flywheel approach has worked: Better service wins deposits, deposits support lending, and lending deepens the relationship.