Bank of America recently announced that it had launched a chatbot that utilizes artificial intelligence in improving customer service through learning how its 25 million mobile clients interact with the application.
The chatbot named Erica has the capacity to reply to gestures, text and voice commands such as screen swipes or taps.
Erica can aid customers in handling banking activities such as transferring money between accounts, locking or unlocking debit cards, sending money to family and friends with Zelle, a bank-driven digital payments platform or bill payments.
According to the bank of America’s announcement, it will add extra features in the oncoming months like personalized budgeting tips and payment reminders.
The Bank of America started piloting Erica in with its employees. In fact, it debited a limited rollout to clients in March. This countrywide rollout is intended to go on through June.
Erica has been undergoing the development process for several years ever since it was initially announced in late 2016.
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The application serves as an example of how promising natural language processing, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence technology are growing the potential of mobile applications.
Erica cannot only handle easy queries regarding account balances but can also serve as a handheld financial adviser that aids in tracking personal spending, suggesting personalized steps to enhance one’s credit score and provide money-saving tips.
The Bank of America incorporated over 200,000 ways for users to pose financial questions by using Erica.
By doing so, the bank has been able to demonstrate the complexity of dealing with natural-language interactions.
According to Pew Research Center, voice-driven digital assistants are gradually being included in more consumer services and products.
Also, almost half of the United States adults (46%) asserted that they utilize these apps to communicate with smartphones among other devices.
The usage is likely to increase as digital assistants not only acquire additional capabilities but also become more sophisticated.
The Bank of America has been exploring its digital technology potential as mobile banking becomes more popular. The bank has been doing so as 63% of United States adults who utilize a smartphone claiming to have at least a single financial app on their phone.
According to findings from Citibank’s mobile banking survey, a typical smartphone user has 2.5 financial applications, even though this trend is more common amongst younger adults.
In fact, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers have 3.6, 2.3, and 1.4 applications respectively.
The survey also revealed that mobile banking applications are some of the most common apps that Americans use.
Furthermore, nearly one-third (31%) of customers utilize their mobile banking applications the most compared to social media and weather apps 55% and 33% respectively.
The Financial Times revealed that artificial intelligence technology is set to continue changing the financial services industry.
Vikram Pandit, the former Citigroup CEO, forecasted that 30% of all banking jobs would be phased out by artificial intelligence in the coming five years.
In addition, Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group intends to utilize AI in replacing, individuals or a third of its employees by 2027.
Additionally, JPMorgan displayed the necessity of artificial intelligence technology to financial operations through recruiting Manuel Veloso as the bank’s first ahead of AI research.
Source MobileMarketer
