Can AI-Powered Chatbots Transform Banking Experiences?

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1 OCTOBER 2017 EDITION Can AI-Powered Chatbots Transform Banking Experiences? SURVEY REPORT We Can Do It!

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 03* Introduction 03* 04* 05* What exactly are chatbots? Why are banks turning to chatbots? Banking chatbot use cases 07* Adoption in Banking & Finance 07* Aspire Systems Special Report: State of Chatbots in Banking 10* The Road Ahead 02

3 We are Coming Introduction The age of chatbots or at least the age of hype about chatbots is clearly here. Bots are the new app says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, all set to become omnipresent in our lives. By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationship with the enterprise without interacting with a human predicts Gartner. And the growth of chatbots is rapidly accelerating as businesses deploy chatbots across most major sectors including banking and financial services. What exactly are chatbots? Unlike sales/service live chat that s seen mainstream adoption within online banking, chatbot banking is 100% automated. A back and forth chat is designed to streamline and optimize a bank s digital services by honing in on the exact question or request. These bots access data from a vast database and use artificial intelligence in the background to enable scaled conversations and deliver speedy responses. 03

4 Your currency is gonna be my language Why are banks turning to chatbots? Bank of GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook & Apple) or even a supermarket, or a retailer to address their banking needs. The trend is already taking shape in Asia amidst global market innovations: Alibaba s Alipay now has a mammoth user base of 450 million. The app s main rival WeChat Pay also has a growing footprint. Conversational AI platforms are going to explode in the banking industry, and it s no surprise why. Somewhere between the science fiction realm of menacing, life-controlling robots and the real-world rise of Microsoft s Cortana, Apple s Siri and Amazon s Alexa, the willingness of the average consumer to put their financial eggs is such baskets is growing. They are ready to rely on computers to guide them through major aspects of their financial lives, or at least, be advised by them. As the Amazons and Alibabas of the world set a higher bar for customer expectations, banks recognize the need to aggressively harness and expand the abilities of conversational AI-backed platforms to serve the needs of banking customers, particularly Millennials who are reported to be underwhelmed by existing mobile banking experiences that banks offer, either due to accessibility issues or failure of the app to successfully complete a task. A 2017 survey of 33,000 consumers in 18 countries by Accenture revealed that a whopping 71% of respondents are open to the idea of robo-advisors helping them determine which bank account to open. And nearly 1 in 3 would not mind switching to the 04

5 Banking Chatbot Use Cases There are several different ways by which AI-powered conversational systems can be used by banks to acquire, engage and delight customers. Here are some of them. Got New Use Cases! Chatbots-The Next Big Thing in Lead Generation A banking chatbots can be programmed to ask specific questions to customers, thereby allowing it to collect valuable lead data, exclude unqualified prospects, and deliver the most qualified leads directly to your sales reps. Future bots promise the ability to learn customers preferences, predict where a consumer is in the buying cycle, thus creating more actionable leads and boosting conversion. An Aid to Cross-sell financial products With their AI and machine learning capabilities chatbots can get a deeper understanding of their customers behavior, life events, and context, and tap into this knowledge base to deliver highly-targeted content and offers. Such personalized products and offers delivered at the right time via the customer s preferred messaging app can remarkably increase conversion rates. A Tremendous Automation Tool A wide range of banking services can be automated with the help of bots, substantially slashing costs while boosting operational efficiencies. Applied to customer service, it can proactively surface the right content and resolve customer issues 24/7. BI estimates that while the average cost of enabling a customer transaction via phone is around $2.50, for a digital transaction (online or on mobile) it comes down to around $0.17. With constant improvement in technologies such as such as natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), these bots will become as effective (if not better) in customer engagement and query handling as humans - making them a feasible alternative to call centers in the long run. 05

6 An Intelligent Assistant for Managing Money In the present age of lifestyle banking banks need to seamlessly integrate managing money and financial decisions into their customers everyday lives. Imagine a proactive personal banker accessible 24/7/365 on the customer s smartphones facilitating a simplified, intuitive banking experience. Experts say today s simple question-and-answer programs will soon evolve into sophisticated conversational agents capable of helping customers keep track of their money with balance notifications, bill reminders, suggestions on how to save for a rainy day, and more, experts say. A conversational interface, powered by AI backed predictive systems can plug into the customer s bank account to analyze spending patterns in the background, and deliver highly targeted, real-time financial advice to customers. Such helpful digital representatives can be a life-saver for customers, especially Millennials by providing a much simpler way of managing their subscriptions, optimizing their day-to-day spending and finding better financial products. A banking bot can also explain complex finance terminology in a simpler language, saving time and reducing pain. Personal finance bot, Cleo leverages machine learning to learn about a customer s spending patterns from the data the customer has handed over. This allows it to provide personalized insights into spending across multiple accounts and credit cards, broken down by transaction, category or merchant. It automatically deposits small amounts of money into a savings account based on what Cleo deems the customer can afford. Beyond enabling smarter budgeting, it is also capable of answering questions like "Is this the best deal? Do you really need this credit card? Are there any alternatives available? Such proactive recommendations based on predictive data enables Cleo to make sure its customers are always getting the best deals driving a new level of engagement. In fact, the next big improvement around banking bots will be in this space-turning bots into sophisticated money coaches that drive intelligent conversations and actionable recommendations. 06

7 Adoption in Banking & Finance Banks and credit unions are experimenting with chatbots that exist in their mobile apps as well as on customer-preferred channels, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. While opting for the former gives a bank greater control over the functions of the bot, the latter allows it to reach within communication mediums they are already using. For banks and payment companies looking for an entry-level platform, Facebook Messenger is probably the most user-friendly and convenient to set up. In addition to lower costs of development, supporting a new functionality on Facebook Messenger, for instance, costs less than supporting a Web or mobile interface. DBS, for example, is working on embedding its chat-happy banking app in messaging platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat. Banks like Barclays, Societe Generale, USAA, BBVA, and Capital One have also begun actively experimenting with them. New Generation Aspire Systems Special Report: State of Chatbots in Banking Aspire Systems conducted a global survey among banks, credit unions and payment providers over a period of three months in 2017 to examine the trends in the adoption and use of chatbots in banking and finance. 07

8 The survey revealed that a vast majority of respondents (93%) do not currently have a differentiated offering in conversational systems for their Millennial market In most cases, their platforms have not yet progressed past the experimental phase. 71% of respondents in Aspire s survey also believe that the level of AI, NLP and ML in current banking bots is quite basic, and another 79% admit that chatbots in the current state are only capable of supporting basic use cases for transactional interactions. (e.g. checking account balance). In other words, it s safe to say that chatbot AI has not evolved to the point where it can become the face of a bank s brand for a customer service or sales role, although it can automate many of the manual mundane tasks that come with managing a first-line support for banking customers. In most cases, their platforms have not yet progressed past the experimental phase. 71% of respondents in Aspire s survey also believe that the level of AI, NLP and ML in current banking bots is quite basic, and another 79% admit that chatbots in the current state are only capable of supporting basic use cases for transactional interactions. (e.g. checking account balance). How do you see your customers use chatbots in the present state? 14% 7% Basic use cases for transactional interactions (79%) Be a 2 AM buddy that exceeds your Millennial s expectations on complex scenarios(14%) 79% Trusting your chatbots with sensitive information to offer financial advice(07%) What do you think is the level of Artificial Intelligence,NLP and Machine Learning in current banking chatbots? 29% Basic (71%) Intermediate (29%) 71% 08

9 On partnering with Fintechs, most respondents tend to agree that doing so would lead to more technologically advanced chatbots. 14% have already developed successful bots through such partnerships, and another 14% plan to do so in the near future.43% of those surveyed say have already partnered with Fintechs but not for chatbot implementation. 21% 29% 50% Do you believe partnering with Fintechs would lead tomore technologically advanced chatbots? Completely agree (29%) Somewhat agree (50%) Neither agree or disagree (21%) Completely disagree (0%) How do you see your customers use chatbots in the present state? No, we have partnered with Fintechs but not for chatbot implementations (43%) No, we believe we can build our own solutions and don t plan to partner with Fintech (29%) No, but we plan to do so in the future (14%) Yes, we have developed successful chatbots with Fintech partnerships (14%) 14% 14% 29% 43% Recommendations The most effective bots in the future will be the ones that integrate AI, analytics, and chatbots into a single platform to cognify the whole banking experience. Such sophisticated bots would provide customers with personalized financial guidance, conversational self-service, and automated programs that help them successfully meet their financial goals. Developing such systems requires the capability to deliver digital, and design thinking, along with the domain expertise to understand the technical nuances involved in the existing processes. As a result, it is imperative for banks to look to trusted technology partners who have the expertise in developing advanced AI and NLP solutions that can learn, respond and adapt autonomously over time rather than simply execute predefined instructions. Banks cannot afford to underestimate the level of innovation and technical expertise required to develop such advanced chatbots. 09

10 The Road Ahead Conversational interaction is in a way the natural evolution of mobile banking. If one thinks of online banking via a computer/laptop as digital banking 1.0, and mobile banking as digital banking 2.0, then the upcoming conversational platforms using chatbots, NLP and machine learning could very well be version 3.0. With constant advances in AI, bots will only get more intelligent over time giving banks the opportunity to create more intimate customer relationships. And the idea of handling one s finances without a bot might well be like trying to picture life without a smartphone. References g-to-evolve hatbots-on-facebook-messenger ?r=uk&ir=t ney/ es-802f3c8ee75f 10