The world is constantly moving forward, evolving and adapting to consumers’ needs and global conditions. According to experts, the pandemic has accelerated the digital revolution by 7 years and the value of the global artificial intelligence market will grow to $190 billion by 2025. We had the opportunity to witness it, specifically in the case of voicebots. For example, solutions to facilitate access to psychotherapy, customer service in the cab industry or contact with clinics regarding Covid-19 tests were created. The use of voicebots in the banking industry has also been known for some time and this is the topic of our blogpost today.
Modern technology makes banking so much easier
Banks do not hesitate to use the latest technologies and communication channels such as social media or mobile applications. The latter have become so desirable in recent years that few can imagine not having access to mobile banking, including express transfers, shopping using BLIK codes or the ability to pay by phone. It is because people like to get things done quickly, preferably with one click or a short phone call that they don’t have to wait in line for. This is one of the reasons why voice bots are becoming more widely used in the world.
Voicebots are a vast range of solutions that each bank can adapt to its services and customers but they’re mostly helpful for repetitive processes when there is a specific pattern of action. It can include:
- identification of a user and the service concerned,
- various authorizations,
- checking the amount of funds in the account,
- customer surveys,
- activation and deactivation of services,
- confirmations of the payments.
Voicebots in Poland: mBank
mBank has introduced a voicebot named Marek. His job is to help with the most common issues that customers report during phone calls. mBank ensures that the average call answering time will be shorter than 5 seconds. The bot will answer questions in its area of expertise and redirect the customer to the right person in case it can’t help. It will reduce not only the call waiting time, but also the overall service time.
At the beginning, during the conversation with a bot, it will be possible to carry out 7 actions, including for example card activation. Bank employees assure that Marek will be constantly learning, improving, and acquiring new competencies, thus expanding the list of actions that will be handled by him. Each subsequent contact with the bot will be more natural.
Voicebots in Poland: Alior Bank
In Alior Bank all calls are currently answered by infoNina virtual assistant who directs callers to consultants and herself handles up to 10% of cases without the need to switch the call to a consultant. The algorithms used in this technology analyse +/- 42 million public internet utterances every day in order to understand how people express themselves. This way the bots understand e.g. synonyms, colloquial speech, vulgarisms, different accents and what silence on the other side means.
The bank itself notes repeatedly on its website that infoNina is still learning and asks its customers for understanding and repeating phrases she didn’t understand.
Voicebots in Poland: PKO BP
The voice assistant of PKO BP uses advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to understand customer instructions and respond to them. The voicebot can be instructed to, for instance, check the account balance, make a transfer and pay with a BLIK code. Bank experts claim that the assistant understands more than 70 commands and is able to help with 160 different conversation topics. On the bank’s website one can read that the system is still learning and if it cannot currently perform a process of some kind, it redirects the user to a place in the application where they will perform the banking operation on their own. With the IKO Voice Assistant, customers have already made over 400,000 calls. As promised by PKO, soon the IKO Voice Assistant will understand several dozen more types of instructions, help to analyse expenses and better support the blind.
Voicebots in Poland: Credit Agricole
The automated advisor Asia is available for the clients of Credit Agricole bank around the clock. You do not even have to wait to be connected with the bot. Before the conversation starts, all you have to do is provide your name and phone number (optionally).
Bank employees emphasize that the number of telephone contacts is constantly growing, and during the pandemic it increased as much as three times compared to the usual number of calls. Therefore, they are reaching for solutions that will relieve consultants from handling standard cases and allow them to focus on longer and more serious conversations with customers.
Will voicebots completely replace humans?
More and more banks are implementing voice solutions to make it easier or faster for their customers to use their services. Many bots are still learning and improving, but thus getting equipped with new functionalities every day. It’s possible that in the near future bots will operate so efficiently that in some activities they will completely replace humans, reducing service costs. Does your bank offer a voicebot service? What is your experience with this type of solution? Or maybe you work in a bank and would like to implement a voice solution, but don’t know where to start? Contact us!
