Improving the responsiveness of customer support and providing frictionless & convenient digital services have been two long-standing challenges for the retail banking segment. Since the banking and financial services industry (BFSI) relies heavily on trust and consumer goodwill, innovations like conversational AI and voicebots in banking find rapid adoption. Most banks know how applications of AI or a voicebot in retail banking can provide significant benefits for the industry and make it more interactive, faster, and customer-centric.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for digital banking services and is all the better if the service can be offered contactless and remotely. Therefore, conversational AI like voice bots, chatbots, and other virtual agents are seen as an effective way to scale up service delivery while controlling costs. Banks implementing AI support are interested in their potential to improve customer acquisition, retention, and audience conversion. 

Let’s look deeper into how conversational AI or voicebots in retail banking is proving helpful.

How Conversational AI Technology Is Used in Retail Banking

Retail banking is getting highly competitive not only because of many existing banks but also because of many unconventional players that have entered the system such as Neo Banks. They started as auxiliary service providers and grew into financial institutions. They offer many non-traditional banking products, and their proprietary technologies even help them appeal to the changing customer demographic. Therefore, BFSI participants cannot afford to lag behind in bridging service delivery gaps.

Here are some insights on how AI in retail banking through a digital platform is used to ensure save on costs, retain customers and reshape the banking industry.

Sales and Marketing

The customer segment with high purchasing power whose habits will dictate banking evolution in the near future is the millennial. They are comfortable with app-based or mobile banking through a digital platform and show greater financial savvy. We have already seen that they prefer instantaneous banking experiences through a digital platform, but 58% of millennials also report that they are interested in personalized products and services.

AI tools (a voicebot or a chatbot) can seamlessly integrate with omnichannel analytics suites making it easy to collect data about customer preferences. The insights derived  from data analytics help create personalized customer experiences, boost brand loyalty and even turn people into brand evangelists. It offers significant insights, gathers data for driving predictive recommendations around product offerings for existing customers based on their demographics, financial standing, product history and is thus very helpful in identifying cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

Voice bot in banking can simplify marketing and sales processes and improve outcomes. They can be set up to qualify leads within the golden time for better conversion. So, simply put together, conversational AI in banking is generating, and will continue to generate business benefits by leveraging data and analytics and making better predictions.

Enhanced Customer Experience

When it comes to the customer care pillar, many easily solvable complaints abound. Long call waiting times, tedious questions that drain agents and customers alike, missed deadlines, frequent case handovers, etc., cause annoyance. Voice bots have shown a reduction in call waiting times with a 50% increase in human agent availability. Mundane, repetitive tasks can be easily automated and reduce costs by over 80%.

Voicebots can also help contact centers to handle larger call volume. People prefer voice calls over IVR calls or chatbots due to the comfort they have with the natural human voice. Voicebots can reduce the pressure building up in times of crisis when customers may want a human-like voice. They are easy to scale when compared to other ways to increase contact center capacity.

As conversational AI tools learn over time, they get better at providing consistent experiences. They analyze a large amount of data around the customer experience and can be used to parse customer support messages, self-help community forms, social media content to identify and address customer needs at the individual level.

Use Cases of Conversational AI in Retail Banking

Retail banking applications can be built based on conversational AI providing additional interfaces for customers. Automating the tasks that require mundane manual processing can reduce costs, enhance efficiency and productivity.

Some use cases to demonstrate the benefits of conversational voice bots in banking:

Chat Bots for Retail Banking

Majority of the customers state that they prefer self-service rather than waiting for human agents to free themselves and answer queries. While some more complex requests may require human intervention, therefore, using voice bots that answer frequently asked questions combine the best of both worlds. AI coupled with Natural Language Processing offer new ways for consumers to engage. Customers can interact with different AI tools in retail banking for reporting potential fraud on their banking cards, applying for an increase on their credit card limit, or getting a breakdown of their recent transactions. 

Paying bills via Voicebots

A voicebot can help send unmissable payment reminders. People can request transactions in a more secure way, that too in the language they feel comfortable with. A voicebot can also be programmed to allow simple requests like managing credit card limits, asking for account balance, etc. When people have problems like stolen cards, PINs not working, etc., they get extra frustrated by IVRs and unavailable contact center executives. A voice bot can guide them through the process to report these problems and take further steps, thus making the service smooth and saving time as well.

AI Assistant for Lead Generation

AI support in banking has made the process of generating leads more accessible than ever before. A chatbot makes it easier to quickly identify high-value website visitors and empower your team to reach out to them proactively.

Monitoring Suspicious Activity

An AI bot in retail banking helps customers monitor their transaction history and quickly report any suspicious activity in their account. Chatbots can generate daily, weekly, and monthly reports to capture an overview of banking activity and promptly address any unrecognized and fraudulent transactions. Customers can lock their cards, reset passwords, or check bank statements in a flash and there is no need to wait in a call queue to get answers to your concerns. Hence, it reduces the time consumption for any banking process.

Success Stories of AI (a chatbot or voice bot) in Retail Banking

Banks have begun adding chatbots to their retail-focused web pages to simplify the customer experience on a digital platform. HSBC has added a chatbot called Amy to many product pages, while American Express has one to show recommendations, send reminders about exclusive card benefits, and sale notifications.

The Qatar Islamic Bank and Axis Bank have rolled out voice bots in multiple languages to serve the multilingual clientele. Bank of America has reported that their voice assistant Erica is being received well.

More banks worldwide are quickly discovering the inevitability of AI in offering satisfactory services through a digital platform. It is estimated that over 50% are already using a voicebot or an AI virtual assistant. Gnani.ai has a number of voice bot solutions for the retail banking needs of early adopters. Contact us to check out how your bank can optimize processes and reduce costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is conversational banking?

Conversational banking means a process of digital banking through voice, text messaging applications, or visual engagement tools. It means you can chat directly with the bank with the messaging apps.

How is AI used in banking?

The uses of AI technology in the banking industry are incredible. The banks are implementing AI technology for detecting frauds, enhancing customer experience, tracking customer behavior for recommending more personalized services, analyzing customer credit histories to predict risks associated with allocating loans, and many more.

Why is AI important for banks?

Artificial Intelligence technology enables banks to manage record-level high-speed data to receive valuable insights. Moreover, features such as digital payments, AI bots, and biometric fraud detection systems further lead to high-quality services for a broader customer base.