Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than just a buzzword, it’s an indispensable tool in creating and enhancing digital financial systems. Companies should seriously consider deploying AI to develop personalized payment experiences for customers. Dynamic pricing, targeted offers, and chatbots are among the tools that can help consumers throughout each stage of the payment process.
Implementing AI to Improve Payment Systems
To remain competitive, companies must grasp the swiftly evolving payment landscape. Emerging payment technologies offer consumers numerous convenient options. While credit cards are still commonly used, alternative payment systems are gaining traction:
- A2A: Account-to-account payments provide real-time processing when funds are instantly transferred to accounts.
- BNPL: Buy now, pay later services let customers break down purchases into smaller installments without the scrutiny that’s often required for credit cards.
- Crypto: Consumers predominantly see crypto as an investment vehicle, but P2B payments are increasing with more merchants signing on to accept it.
- Digital Wallets: They are a popular payment method in North America, soon expected to surpass credit cards.
AI’s capability to rapidly process and analyze real-time data for making predictions can be leveraged across these systems, offering current insights into market demands. However, before integrating AI into these systems, companies must enhance their digital financial literacy. It’s important to understand the various types of financial systems available to customers and how customers effectively use them. For example, many consumers use robo-advisors and digital wallets to manage their wealth.
Understanding customer needs enables organizations to establish practical objectives for integrating AI into their payment processes, ensuring ethical practices aligned with company goals, and preparing their new systems.
Preparing for AI Systems
Before designing a detailed AI implementation plan, businesses may find it necessary to update or replace current assets to handle changes, especially since AI requires additional processing power that may be incompatible with older systems. Digital business assets require regular updates and maintenance, and managers may discover that existing systems lack the capabilities AI requires.
It’s important to remember that every asset you invest in has a lifecycle, which includes acquisition, operation and maintenance, the need for repair or replacement, and disposal.
The initial step is to determine if an upgrade is available that can securely transition your payment system to support your needs. Organizations will to evaluate the complete cost of an upgrade, including updates, licensing, warranty, and maintenance. Other factors influencing these decisions include the cost of downtime caused by system repairs and stakeholders’ attitudes towards an upgrade.
Once systems are ready to launch more advanced AI functions, it’s time to personalize the customer experience.
Payment Personalization and Dynamic Pricing with AI
AI has the potential to revolutionize business efficiency. Through the utilization of generative AI, companies can tailor the payment experience for their customers. For example, AI can automate billing with scheduled invoicing and reminders. More advanced platforms are poised to become available soon, further enhancing the overall experience.
Companies must proactively plan by strategizing and testing helpful solutions. For example, AI helps companies in implementing dynamic pricing that can be adjusted in real-time to respond to fluctuating forces like supply and demand. Other factors include supply chain challenges, inventory levels, and seasonality.
Improving the Digital Wallet Experience
As digital wallets gain favor among online shoppers, companies should create personalized offers to improve payment experiences and sales. A recent report showed that 71% of online shoppers abandon their carts without completing the process, often due to complicated checkout processes. Introducing the convenience of a digital wallet addresses this issue. Respondents indicated that pre-setting up a digital wallet would motivate them to proceed to checkout.
AI can further enhance digital wallets by offering tailored recommendations. The technology’s capacity to predict consumer payment behaviors yields the data necessary for better personalization. Through machine learning, this data is analyzed and processed to generate predictions, which can the be utilized to create targeted offers directly within the wallet.
Enhanced personalization fosters stronger customer relationships. AI enables companies to take this a step further by improving customer service through the integration of chatbots.
When live help is available, chatbots are a great way to ensure that customers receive assistance. Using chatbots for digital payments helps provide 24/7 service that is conversational for customers who are experiencing difficulties with the payment process. Deploying chatbots can also save businesses time and money while enhancing customer service.
