According to Gartner, chatbots will power 85% of all customer service interactions by the year 2020. So how is the financial industry performing in this new wave of digital transformation?
The financial services industry has long been at the forefront of technological innovation. While many businesses are still debating whether to invest in AI, according to recent research, major banks are very much leading the way to invest in technology and are thriving as a result.
According to Deltec Bank, “As virtual assistants become increasingly more intelligent and their cognitive abilities develop, the expectations for banks and the services they offer will steadily grow.”
Banks that are not interested in moving along the digital route or refuse to acknowledge this, risk falling behind permanently, particularly with the huge influx of challenger fintech companies that are appearing on the market, offering new, dynamic and tailored financial services at a much lower price to its customers.
“Banks that aren’t interested in moving along the digital route or refuse to acknowledge this, risk falling behind permanently.”
What is a digital assistant?
A chat assistant or more commonly referred to as a chatbot is an AI or computer program that conducts conversations that replicate human conversation.
Chat assistants have come a long way from their humble origins, with advancements in machine learning and natural language processing allowing them to learn from their interactions and hold conversations in a human-like manner.
A stunning example is the Google Duplex technology displayed at Google I/O that showcased a human interacting with Google Assistant.
Customer services digital assistants
One of the most attractive things about AI-powered customer services for banks is its ubiquity. With virtual customer service agents available 24/7 and through a variety of channels such as live messages, telephone or email, it’s a win-win situation for both bank employees and customers.
From a customer’s perspective, simple requests such as password resets or international transactions can be performed in an instant and there is no need to visit the bank or spend an hour in a telephone queue to speak to a human agent.
Banks adopting customer-facing AI solutions are in fact seeing increased customer satisfaction rates despite the lack of the real human-to-human contact element.
For example, since implementing IPsoft’s AI solution, Amelia, SEB, a leading Nordic bank has been able to avoid 544 hours of escalations to customer support with an average handle time of six minutes.
In addition, Amelia has reached an 85% accuracy in immediate intent recognition which has resulted in much faster service delivery to customers and soaring customer satisfaction.
And finally…
Banks have now more than ever, the opportunity to interact with their customers in a more engaging way. Through digital banking and data research thanks to AI, banks can know more about their client’s purchasing behaviors and receive feedback.
This way banks can find the difficulties and most common frustrations of their customers, redefine the banking experience and provide their customers with brand new digital new solutions, that will satisfy their ever more growing needs and expectations.
Disclaimer: The author of this text, Robin Trehan, has an Undergraduate degree in economics, Masters in international business and finance and MBA in electronic business. Trehan is Senior VP at Deltec International www.deltecbank.com. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the author, and not necessarily reflecting the views of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries and/or employees.
About Deltec Bank
Headquartered in The Bahamas, Deltec is an independent financial services group that delivers bespoke solutions to meet clients’ unique needs. The Deltec group of companies includes Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec Fund Services Limited, and Deltec Investment Advisers Limited, Deltec Securities Ltd. and Long Cay Captive Management.
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