AI will dominate banking and less interaction will create a more human experience, says Aspect Software

In the near future the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology will make user interface easier in order to help banks in creating human like customer experience.

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology will enable simpler user interfaces, which will help banks create a more human-like customer experience. The technology has become efficient in gaining extensive data analytics and customer insights, which will help banks to create a more personalised customer experience, according to Aspect Software.

Four in five bankers believe AI will “revolutionise” the way in which banks gather information as well as how they interact with their clients, said the Accenture Banking Technology Vision 2017 report as customers are looking for a fast, efficient solution to their queries.

The new report revealed that AI will become the primary way banks interact with their customers within the next three years, according to three quarters of bankers surveyed and also found that, while the number of human interactions in bank branches or over the phone was falling and would continue to do so, the quality and importance of human contact would increase.

Stephen Ball, SVP Sales, Europe and Africa at Aspect Software, suggests that as the banking world continues to change with the adoption of new technologies, and a growing number of ‘challenger banks’ and fintech providers emerging to shake up the established order, traditional banks are responding by improving their customers’ experience.

He said: “Today’s customers are looking for instant gratification via a multitude of channels and are expecting a high quality of service wherever and whenever they are.

“Replacing human interaction with an increase in the use of automated technologies would appear to reduce the personalised customer experience that banking customers receive. However, this move should create the opposite effect. Customers today want to know they’re cared about and understood on a more personal level than ever before and a one-size fits all approach will not keep them satisfied.

“AI technologies, such as chatbots will advance beyond being the bank’s first point of contact for customers looking for instant, efficient solutions. The technology has continued to develop and can now go beyond just providing information on balances or helping with payments, it can now be used for more complex decisions such as giving mortgage and loan advice,” Stephen added.

Stephen explained further: “AI provides banks with access to far better information to understand what a customer’s needs are and allows them to build a service that is far more personalised, efficient and smooth. By building up as much information as possible, it will save the customer having to wait on a phone to be put through to the appropriate person and enable them to interact with their bank more often and through any of their selected channels. Financial institutions can save money using the technology as it will enable them to scale down their customer advisory operations and allow AI to manage the data and provide customers with solutions.”

The Accenture Banking Technology Vision 2017 report supports Aspect’s 2016 Consumer Experience Index, which shows that 44 per cent of respondents indicated that they would prefer to use a chatbot, or another kind of AI assistant, to solve customer service issues. Aspect predicted that following the noticeable increase in customer frustration during interactions with customer service teams, plus the advances in automated technology, it would lead to an increase in AI adoption in banks as well as retail institutions.

Aspect helps enterprises break down the walls between people, processes, systems and data sources, empowering organisations to unite around the customer journey. Our customer engagement center offers native interaction management, workforce optimisation and self-service capabilities that drive dynamic, conversational interactions and create a truly frictionless omni-channel customer experience. Leveraging all the benefits of the cloud and over 40 years of industry ingenuity, Aspect conveniently and easily connects questions to answers while helping enterprises keep service levels high and operational costs contained.