Banking chatbots are emerging as an important way for financial institutions to improve digital customer interactions as more consumers shift their banking activities from branches to online and mobile channels. Powered by natural language processing, chatbots can make these interactions more conversational while providing customers with convenient access to common banking services.
As financial institutions explore the technology in 2018, banking chatbots have the potential to move beyond answering basic questions. They could help customers check balances, review transactions, transfer money, locate branches and ATMs, and eventually provide personalized prompts and recommendations that recreate some of the engagement traditionally associated with branch banking.
The role natural language processing as it manifests in chatbots in our daily lives is certainly set to expand in 2018. The author present his vision of how this fast developing tool is finding fertile ground in a variety of industries, with banking figuring prominently.
The banking industry has gone over a sea change since all the most of the financial transactions are conducted online. So, the banks also need a perfect chatbot interface, which will make their hefty activates simpler. Each day several transactions are completed and it must be done carefully. The users can check their balance, money transfers and receipts and history of transactions, locating the nearest bank branch or ATM all through the bots. In fact, some of the reputed banks like Bank of America or Western Union Money Transfer have already implemented the bots such as Erica or Messenger for that specific purpose.
Mercator Advisory Group anticipates the ability to make interactions with financial institutions flow and be more conversational will be an area of emphasis for financial institutions seeking to cultivate regular interactions with consumers. The shift to the mobile device as the primary point of engagement with the various financial institutions many Americans utilize in conducting their personal business transactions has many of those FIs seeking ways to move beyond simple answering of questions. The ability to automate the conversational engagement allowing for the FI chatbot to initiate questions to uncover opportunities to deliver additional services is one way to replace the regular “check-in and update” FIs had conducted during branch visits. Chatbots, properly implemented, will be able to deliver on the promise of high-touch personalized FI service delivery to a wider spectrum of FI customers. We’ll be watching the developments in 2018.
The growing importance of mobile banking creates an opportunity for banking chatbots to become a more significant part of the financial institution-customer relationship. Automating routine inquiries can provide consumers with faster access to information while allowing banks to serve customers through the digital channels they increasingly prefer.
The larger opportunity lies in making chatbot interactions proactive rather than simply reactive. Using natural language processing and customer data, financial institutions could initiate conversations, identify customer needs, and introduce relevant products or services.
If implemented effectively, banking chatbots could help financial institutions provide personalized service to a broader range of customers without requiring a branch interaction. As chatbot technology continues to develop throughout 2018, the ability to combine convenience with meaningful conversational engagement will be an important area to watch.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interaction Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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