Robotic Process Automation

Chatbots in banking: The new age of intelligent financial services

Robotic process automation (RPA) has taken the international business scene by storm, especially over the past couple of years as the world moved online. The banking industry is no exception as banks continue to offer round-the-clock digital services to customers, such as online banking or banking apps. However, customer expectations are continuously growing, with demand for better service and 24 x 7 availability at their fingertips.

Here is where conversational artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots come into the picture. The usage of chatbots enhances banking business processes, delivers instant customer service, and updates overall customer experience as financial institutions continue to adopt a digital-first attitude. Intelligent chatbots in today’s banking industry are the difference between gaining a competitive edge and becoming obsolete.*

Chatbots in banking: Features and benefits

Ideally, an intelligent chatbot for banking system would have the following features:

• Conversational
• Transactional
• Reliable
• Multi-channel
• Secure

A chatbot that can behave like a financial advisor, perform important transactions securely, and is available across multiple channels is a great asset in the banking industry. It can bring many benefits to the table, such as:

• Improved customer service and experience
• Personalised and customisable banking services
• Cost reduction
• Enhanced risk mitigation
• Productivity and efficiency improvement
• Reduction in workload

Use cases of chatbots in banking

Banks have been effective at incorporating bots into their day-to-day operations. By the end of this year, they anticipate saving billions by reducing time spent on answering customer queries. As per studies, 33% of responders believe customer service chatbots are highly effective and 54% consider them somewhat effective. Let’s look at a few use cases to determine their capability.

• Transfer money:

  Chatbots simplify bill payments, money transfers, and scheduling and tracking transactions. Additional features, such as paying credit card dues and recharging prepaid cards, improve the utility of banking chatbots.

• Get instant account balance updates:

  With conversational AI and chatbots, customers can check their account balance within seconds without the need to log into their digital accounts or visit the bank. Additionally, features such as sending notifications if the balance falls below a specified limit help customers manage their accounts effectively.

• Send alerts and notifications:

  Banking chatbots send alerts and push notifications to the customers - from reminders for bill payment and delivery of paperwork to information about new services. This leads to increased use of digital banking services and higher customer satisfaction.

• Track transaction history:

  Banking chatbots offer a summary of your expenses, highlighting recurring transactions or expenditure patterns. This helps customers better manage their accounts through an enhanced customer experience.

• Identify and investigate suspicious activity:

  One of the most important uses of chatbots in the banking industry is to alert customers of potentially suspicious activity and assist them in case of account hacking. This is imperative for providing a safe and secure banking experience to the customers and building trust while safeguarding their assets.

• Easy application to other services:

  Chatbots simplify applications to other services, such as loans, credit cards, or new accounts. If used effectively, they can be a great upselling tool for banking institutions while improving the banking system’s efficiency and customers’ banking experience.

• Simplified customer service:

  The primary aim of banking chatbots is to automate customer service. If round-the-clock omnichannel customer service is available with a single tap, it not only improves the customer experience but also enhances operational efficiency.

• Simple lead generation:

  Chatbots have simplified and streamlined the lead generation process in the banking industry. Chatbots embedded in the bank’s website or app interact with the customers, gauge their interest in purchasing the bank’s products, and forward this information to appropriate teams for a follow-up. Conversational AI has proven to be a much more effective tool for lead generation in the banking industry than traditional methods.

• Personal banking assistance:

  Chatbots provide a plethora of information to the customers, personalised and customised to their needs. This information may include spending patterns, recurring expenditures, and expense breakdown. Customers can use this information to effectively manage personal finances, especially in the absence of dedicated financial advisors.

• Added security features:

  Safe and secure transactions are essential in the banking industry without compromising on speed and efficiency. Banking chatbots facilitate the customers in conducting quick and easy payments while maintaining the highest level of data security and protection. Transactions made through conversational AI chatbots are faster, simpler, and more secure than traditional banking transactions.

How can Infosys BPM help?

Step into the future of chatbots with Infosys BPM robotic process automation solutions. Seamlessly combine RPA solutions with artificial intelligence in intelligent process automation for unprecedented efficiency, productivity, and agility. Infosys BPM RPA solutions offer you end-to-end process automation support, from advisory services and PoC to RPA delivery and bot support to amplify your business value and enhance customer experience. With the integrated people-process-technology framework, transform your business processes and leap into the future of banking with intelligent chatbots.

*For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliver and exceed on organisational expectations with a robust digital mindset backed by innovation. Enabling businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve like a living organism, will be imperative for business excellence going forward. A comprehensive, yet modular suite of services is doing exactly that. Equipping organisations with intuitive decision-making automatically at scale, actionable insights based on real-time solutions, anytime/anywhere experience, and in-depth data visibility across functions leading to hyper-productivity, Live Enterprise is building connected organisations that are innovating collaboratively for the future.