7 Chatbots to Enhance Real-Time Customer Experience for Banking (Part 2)

Mike Togle
June 14, 2017

Chatbots can already be classified as a game changer in enhancing the experience of customers in various channels. In Part 1 of this article, we shared how chatbots like POSB Digibank Virtual Assitant, ABSA ChatBanking, KAI, and Erica have assisted customers with their accounts; even to the point of managing their finances.

We continue the series with 3 more chatbots along with our conclusion of how chatbots can prove to be beneficial to both banks, their customers, or even the un-banked.

Chatbot 5. Eno – Capital One (SMS)

On March 2017, Capital One developed a gender-neutral virtual assistant called Eno that customers can communicate with via SMS. Customers can ask Eno for their account balance and recent transactions of their Capital One credit card, checking and savings account, and for the due date of their credit card bill. Eno can also provide information on the available credit and credit limit of their credit card, their account summary, payment history, and bank routing number. Account holders can also ask Eno to pay their credit card bill.

Unlike other chatbots, Eno can recognize certain emojis. Customers can send a ‘bag of money’ to get a quick summary of their accounts or send a ‘thumbs up’ to confirm a payment. Besides discussing banking-related topics and information, Eno can also converse with customers on what it looks like, what’s in its wallet, and what is its take on the meaning of life. In a future update, Capital One is working on adding a feature that allows customers to send money using Eno.

Chatbot 6. MyKAI – Kasisto (SMS, Slack, Facebook Messenger)

Kasisto, who has enabled several blanks with the KAI chatbot, created their own personal banking bot called MyKAI. Compared to bank-specific chatbots, MyKAI supports 20,000 US financial institutions that allows customers to manage different checking, savings, credit cards, and other accounts without swiping through several apps.

MyKAI can show the customer’s latest bank balance, track their expenses, and send money across the net via Venmo. This chatbot can provide information on your expenditures for groceries, travel, and other transactions.

Always learning, MyKAI can already define more than 1,000 banking terms. According to Kasisto, customers do not have to worry about the security of their financial profile because MyKAI never stores credentials or financial data.

Chatbot 7. Abe (SMS, Slack)

Abe is a smart financial chatbot that helps customers manage their money by monitoring their income and keeping track of their expenses. Customers can link their financial accounts and Abe will calculate a budget tailored for their financial lifestyle.

Customers can ask Abe for the budget they can spend for a certain time range, information on how much credit they have, and when the credit card bill is due. They can also inquire about their income, expenditures, and transactions. Additionally, Abe has a function that allows customers to know how much of their debt eats up their income and how long they can survive with their existing funds if they were to stop working. Abe is soon planning to integrate with Facebook Messenger and Amazon Alexa.

Chatbots: Helping People Manage Finances

Chatbots can prove to be beneficial to both banks , their customers, or even the un-banked.

With chatbots, banks can provide 24/7 customer service without any noticeable loss in efficiency and effectiveness. Customers can do their banking chores outside bank hours. They can inquire or access bank services and the chatbots can respond faster; quickly retrieving the information they need.

The chatbots’ embedded data analytics features can also help banks personalize and create tailor-fit advertisements by effectively learning from the data that it gathers. Using key data points, chatbots can suggest and promote relevant promos, products, and services that customers might need or want. It also helps make sure that customers will not be overwhelmed with offers from a chatbot since people can easily ask the chatbot to ‘stop’ suggesting.

Another advantage is that chatbots can operate in various platforms. Customers can communicate with them via SMS, Facebook Messenger, Slack, in-app, and other messaging applications. Although, proprietary banking chatbots are limited to administering information about accounts within respective banks, which proves to be a flexibility issue.In GOBankingRates survey, 46% of banking customers have relationships with two or more banks. That is why financial chatbots such as MyKAI and Abe may be better options for customers with multiple banks and accounts.

According to Gartner, by 2020, 30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen. Going “voice first” will allow people to extend the web experience to multiple activities. This takes into consideration that banks will soon integrate voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa into their system, which could allow customers to communicate with their chat AI hands-free.

Ultimately: With this trend set to shake up the banking industry further within the year, banks have to seriously consider implementing it into their digital banking channels in order to keep their current customer base, enhance the experience for the customers, or grow their accounts by allowing for optimal marketing of promotions to new and existing customers.

Or banks can ignore it and be further left behind by those who will take advantage of it.

_____

Carry on a conversation with us through the comments below, or you can send a message or inquiry about our services for the banking and fintech industry.

Founded in 2003 by pioneers of the Philippine Global Sourcing industry, Pointwest creates value for its list of satisfied clients — including top Fortune 100 and local companies — with world-class IT and BPM services backed by international-standards methodologies and innovative practices.