Over the years, technological advancements have helped banking sector modify its business operations and bring in higher efficiency levels. Think about it, when was the last you actually stood in a queue to either deposit a cheque or draw some cash? Banks have readily embraced technology to simplify operations and increase efficiency in service. From internet banking to ATM machines to even mobile applications, banks have employed technology in more ways than imagined. While operations and back-end tasks have seen increased use and benefits via technology, the customer service aspect has not leveraged technology to its fullest potential, yet.

So how do banks enhance their customer service levels?  

Chatbots!

Chatbots have made a niche as an offering for some time now and have steadily been improvised to fill that gap in the ever demanding banking customer services. As per a study done by Personetics (a Cognitive banking services provider), 80% of respondents (from banking) see Chatbots as an opportunity to enhance services while a majority of respondents see an increased involvement of Chatbots in handling customer conversations in the next 3-5 years. This would be a big move since a large part of customer conversations and handling is currently being undertaken by human resources.

Now, why are banks thinking of complimenting human resources if not completely replacing them via Chatbots?

’’Banks and insurers are always keen to reduce costs whilst improving the customer experience. AI, and in particular, conversational commerce is a natural next step in that journey’’ 

–  Warren Mead, Global Lead, Fintech – KPMG

Rising costs and competition have prompted banking and financial service firms to think alternatively. Basic tasks such as- answering banking related queries, providing customer information, helping in financial transactions- can now be delivered by Chatbots and banks find Chatbots so useful for such tasks. Chatbots also help save on costs in this manner, as per report by Juniper, Chatbots will save about $8 billion per annum for banks by 2022. The report also stated that an enquiry taken up by Chatbots saves upto 4 minutes in comparison with a traditional call by a customer service executive. No wonder banks are so upbeat about adopting and comprehensively using Chatbots.

Is everything fine with chat software?

There have been numerous experiences of customers being utterly disappointed with chat software that interacts as soon as a customer lands on a bank website. More often than not customers had to call back to support services to get their doubts clarified or issues sorted. This begs some food for thought – One, not all customer service related services, at least as of now, can be dealt by Chatbots, and two, there is always the lack of human element or experience when Chatbots are used.

Some experts opine that the Chatbots that are currently deployed by some of the bigger banks are way ahead of the previously used chat software, and these Chatbots are redefining customer experience in more ways than one. Makers of Chatbot software are banking on technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) to transform Chatbots into near perfect replacements for customer service executives. French bank Societe Generale is coming with Chatbots that would answer queries on equity funds, while Swedbank has reported that its Chatbot “Nina’’ handles about 40,000 conversations a month and resolves 81% of the issues raised.

 Ways Chatbots are useful in Banking

• Basic transactions – Chatbots are helping customers with their daily cash transfers, helping them check their account status, providing them with banking information, etc. Bank of America’s Chatbot ‘’Erica’’ goes a step ahead and helps customers save on cash while helping them with their debt payments.
• Constant communication – Chatbots are in constant touch with their customers and provide them regular and relevant information via text messages. Apart from providing information, they also help customers with basic transactions like credit card payments via mobile phones.
• Natural Language response – Chatbots like ones deployed by Wells Fargo respond (using AI) to natural language messages from customers. This Chabot also provides answers to enquiries on account balance, basic transactions, nearest ATMs, etc. The bank also says that the Chatbot can go deeper and provide idea on spending trends and account offers.
• Saves time – Chatbots help in answering customer queries efficiently and save on time for both customers and bank executives. What’s interesting here is that banks like Swedbank have begun diverting their human resources for more important tasks, such as selling and customer relationships, all thanks to their Chatbot – ‘’Nina’’ which takes care of basic customer queries.
• Employee support – While most banks have gone with Chatbots to help customers, Swedish bank, SEB has gone a step ahead. Along with having Chatbots for customer service it has also deployed – ‘’Amelia’’ to help converse with employees and solve their issues. This Chabot is designed to help employees in IT support deliver better service.

 Chatbots as Virtual Assistants

Going forward, we will see Chatbots playing a more comprehensive role while moving away from being just a ‘’bot’’ to becoming a ‘’digital assistant’’ which will be much more useful in customer services. All thanks to technologies such as AI, ML and the experience generated out of deploying Chatbots over the next few years, banks will have progressed in operations and customer service terms. AI will help Chatbots progress to a level where bots play the role of a bank teller, personal assistant, and even financial advisor all clubbed into one – changing the dynamics of banking forever.

Read complete blog