Bank of Scotland pilots AI tech for customer iPhone chat
Fancy a chat?
Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, has launched a pilot artificial intelligence (AI) project – a virtual assistant for customers using the iPhone app.
Customers can have a messaging conversation in real time with a virtual assistant, which has been trained to answer common queries, such as unknown account transactions, how to make payments and what to do about lost or stolen cards.
The pilot is accessible to 50,000 Bank of Scotland iOS mobile customers.
The bank emphasises that it will be made clear to the customers that they are conversing with a machine and that they can speak to a real person at any time.
The virtual agent has been set up to initially handle a maximum of 2,000 customer conversations. These will be monitored to determine any additional features that can be added before it is rolled out on a wider scale, the bank explains.
“We are experimenting with how we use AI technology to help our customers find the information they want in the simplest and most convenient way possible,” says Nick Williams, MD, consumer digital at Bank of Scotland.
“This is an exciting first step for us in using AI and messaging technology, and we’re keen to see how our customers like the service.”
