Chatbot


AI is on!

Implementation of first uses cases around real-time contextual added-value banking notifications and offers to make their appearance in 2018.

PostFinance has crack at Swiss jackpot with new chatbot

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Switzerland’s PostFinance has unveiled a German language virtual assistant on its website – generating automatic replies to customers’ most frequently asked questions. PostFinance, keen to tap into the fintech zeitgeist for artificial intelligence (AI), says it’s the “first Swiss financial institution” to launch such a chatbot. It was developed by the IT […]

Standard Chartered unveils chatty banking chatbot

Standard Chartered plans to deploy a chatbot on its online and mobile banking platforms powered by Kasisto’s conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform, KAI Banking. The chatbot will act as a virtual personal assistant to help clients manage money, make payments and analyse their spending, via conversations in English and other unnamed languages. The service will […]

Funding Societies interns introduce chatbot Miyu

Funding Societies, a Singapore-based crowdfunding platform, has launched its chatbot Miyu. A first for such a chatbot created by a crowdfunding company in Southeast Asia. Developed by two interns at Funding Societies using bot platforms meya.ai and api.ai, combined with machine learning and natural language processing, Miyu works round the clock to answer queries about […]

RHB and RinggitPlus launch chatbot lending in Malaysia

Malaysia’s RHB Bank Berhad and RinggitPlus – a comparison website for financial products – have introduced “ChatBot’”, the “first” real-time messenger-style platform in Southeast Asia for personal loan applications. Consumers can apply for a loan via ChatBot on RinggitPlus’s website and obtain the results for eligibility via an SMS. The platform auto populates information provided […]

LogMeIn buys AI and chatbot provider Nanorep for $45m

Massachusetts-based software provider LogMeIn has acquired Nanorep, a chatbot and virtual assistant company, for $45 million to boost its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ambitions in customer engagement. Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, Nanorep uses AI and patented natural language processing technologies for self-service solutions. A number of companies, such as financial software firm Intuit, Vodafone, and non-fintech […]

More human than human: banking’s AI future is all in the voice

Aditya Challa of IMImobile takes a look at some current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer experience in the financial and banking sector, as well as the challenges that still need to be overcome. Beyond the current race to build chatbots, he predicts that voice-driven AI services will ultimately become the main […]

Sumitomo Mitsui gets all chatty with AI

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and its partners have unveiled an automated chat service using artificial intelligence (AI) to offer guidance to customers in Japan. SMFG is working with SMBC Nikko Securities, NTT Communications, with support from Accenture Japan, and their service will become available on 25 May at SMBC’s contact centre to improve its […]

Knowledge economy in financial services: from curator to conductor

Once upon a time, not so long ago, companies tried to generate new business by sending marketing messages to prospective clients by post. Direct or “junk” mail – sending a leaflet or letter to anyone for whom the firm had a job title, street address or postcode – was pretty unsophisticated, often derided as a “scattergun” approach.

UBank’s Chatbot Helps Customers with Home Loan Applications

Bank has found another way to use the artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistants. The online-only Australian bank launched RoboChat May 15 to help home buyers—and homeowners who want to refinance—complete UBank’s online home loan application more easily.

Australia’s UBank unveils virtual assistant for home loans

UBank, a subsidiary of National Australia Bank (NAB), has launched RoboChat, Australia’s “first virtual assistant” for online home loan applications. RoboChat will guide customers through the online mortgage form by providing real-time input on questions like “what term do you offer on home loans?” and “do you offer redraws and how do they work?”. Lee […]

Spring Edition of Pay Magazine Has Sprung

The digital edition of the spring 2017 issue of Pay Magazine is now available and it’s full of insights and information to help move your company forward. A theme of the spring issue is game-changing technology—and the innovators, products and companies behind it. This edition of Pay Magazine includes an interview with The Bancorp’s Jeremy Kuiper, who discusses some of the major shifts occurring in the industry.

Mastercard, Merchants Launch Masterpass-Enabled Bots

Hungry Facebook Messenger users can order a meal, do their grocery shopping or send a gift card for a sweet treat without leaving the messaging platform. Mastercard announced April 18 at the Facebook Developer Conference that it has launched Masterpass-enabled, artificial intelligence-powered chatbots with Subway, FreshDirect and The Cheesecake Factory.

Next Insurance launches chatbot on Facebook Messenger

California-based Next Insurance has unveiled its new insurance chatbot that will enable personal trainers to quote and buy insurance via Facebook Messenger. Next partnered with SmallTalk, a chatbot developer, to become the “first company to provide full service insurance via a social channel”. It also says it has developed a direct link with small business […]

HDFC Bank launches AI-powered virtual assistant Eva

India’s HDFC Bank has partnered with Senseforth to launch an electronic virtual assistant – Eva – to answer customer queries. Powered by an artificial intelligence (AI) based engine, the chatbot is said to be able to “assimilate knowledge from thousands of sources and provide answers in simple language in less than 0.4 seconds”.

Mastercard and Getir power payments bot for Facebook Messenger

Mastercard has teamed with Turkish mobile retail firm Getir to use its bot for the “first” Masterpass payments in Facebook Messenger. Customers search for Getir (think “get here”) in Messenger, chat with the bot in a “natural, conversational way”, and make a payment with Masterpass. Getir says users can receive a ten-minute delivery from its […]

TransferWise bot wises up to Facebook Messenger

Residents of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe can now send money and set up rate alerts using TransferWise’s chatbot, launched on the Facebook Messenger platform. According to TransferWise, for regular payments between two currencies, rate alerts will keep users updated on the daily exchange rate. Scott Miller, TransferWise head of global partnerships, says […]

Investing in Innovation: Payoff ahead

We’re only six weeks into the New Year and already we’ve seen significant activity on the regulatory front in the U.S. and more to come in the U.K. and Europe. Meanwhile, many of the other trends we identified as ones to watch in our Year-in-Review report—bots, blockchain and co-opetition—have been dominating the headlines (along with some major acquisitions). Are you investing in the right places?

Revolut rolls out Rita the chatbot greeter

UK-based payments start-up Revolut has unveiled its “human-like” chatbot, Rita, to answer customer queries. Rita – which stands for “Revolut’s Intelligent Troubleshooting Assistant” – is accessible via the mobile app’s messenger support service. Customers can open the app, send Rita a message and get an instant reply. During the pilot scheme, Rita resolved 20% of […]

PayPal’s New Pal Is its First Payments Bot

PayPal has a new pal—namely its first bot that enables Slack users to move and manage their money in a conversational and casual style. The PayPal bot is available to 5 million Slack users in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.

PayPal’s new pal is its first payments bot

PayPal has a new pal – namely its first bot that lets users move and manage their money in a conversational and casual style. It is built on the Slack messaging platform, which has five million daily active users and lets teams centralise conversations. With the bot, people can send money between PayPal accounts without […]