Chatbot Banking, a Financial Revolution
One of the oldest industries in the world is undergoing a massive revolution.
While most companies in various industries see the value in chatbots, none have higher expectations than banks. Banks are in a unique position. They have massive client bases to help, lots of money to experiment, and straightforward profitability models.
This creates a perfect storm for them to dabble in the latest technology. Today, this means chatbots.
As we will see below, many of the world's largest banks have already started. In this article, I will cover a few great chatbot banking examples. I also want to share my thoughts on widespread chatbot adoption and why banks will help.
Chatbot banking - Three big names doing it right
A recent study showed the banking industry could save between $0.50 and $0.70 per chatbot interaction. This means every time a customer interacts with their chatbot instead of a human, the bank saves money. This change adds up, as you can imagine, to billions of dollars.
Read our 2017 must-know chatbot statistics.
With that at the very top of their minds, banks have started to invest in the chatbot industry early on. Below are three examples of that, done well.
Bank of America
You might have heard about this one. Bank of America's chatbot 'Erica' (a clever word play on their name) was one of the first chatbots announced publicly.
The most interesting aspect of Erica is its usefulness beyond account monitoring. You can talk to it and ask about your account, your balance, and everything you'd expect from a banking app.
But you can do more. Erica advises you on saving opportunities. Erica actively tries to help and engage the conversation. The video below introduces Erica to the world at the Money 20/20 conference back in 2016.
Capital One
Capital One distinguished themselves by going for voice early on. Their chatbot was turned into an Alexa skill in late 2016, allowing customers to ask Alexa about their balance and pay off their credit card.
Watch their Alexa skill in action below.
Capital One also launched a text-based chatbot called Eno. Eno allows you to perform the same actions as their Alexa skill but via text. Eno lives on the Capital One app and is currently being deployed to their customer base.
American Express
Amex customers get to interact with their bank account via a useful Facebook Messenger chatbot.
The Amex chatbot allows its users to get purchase notifications, payment reminders, and financial recommendations. An interesting aspect of the Amex chatbot is its ability to link a credit card straight through Messenger. This is something you most likely would see via a native app chatbot, one that sits within the bank's owned app. Seeing it on Facebook Messenger is a first and an interesting approach to chatbot banking.
Watch the American Express chatbot in action:
Chatbot banking will spread the word
A recurring theme on our blog, and in the general chatbot industry, is awareness. What will make consumers aware of chatbots? What will make consumers find value in using them?
This is a topic we often cover because even the largest messaging platforms struggle to find an answer. Facebook Messenger keeps changing their 'Discovery' feature, hoping more people find out about all the amazing bots they power.
At ubisend, we believe awareness will come from within companies. Company-facing chatbots will spread the word about their usefulness to the employees using them. These employees will then bring that enthusiasm home and spread the joy.
Banks could be a close second. Everyone has a bank account. Everyone is affiliated to at least one of the giants in some way or another. Banks also do everything in their power to keep up with their competition, meaning chatbot banking will spread like wild fire among them.
This is a unique opportunity to reach a majority of consumers. Banks have the chance to wow their customers, spread the good word, and make some of our most horrid enterprise interactions ('please hold'... brrr) a lot better.
