What do long hold times, accountholder retention, and poor consumer experience have in common? Artificial intelligence is solving for all of these dilemmas and helping financial institutions make positive first impressions.
Artificial intelligence is changing the way we do business and serve accountholders- for the good. 68% of consumers desire more artificial intelligence in exchange for simplifying their lives. Chatbots, algorithms, video-based content, and virtual assistants in contact centers are being used across nearly every industry to create personalized experiences for the end user.
Humanizing Business with AI
Contrary to some belief, artificial intelligence isn’t going to replace a majority of your human talent overnight and turn your business into a robotic, programmable process. One AI expert defines AI as simply, “a succession of specialized tools, each one dedicated to the optimization of a single repetitive task.” These specialized tools are bringing more human elements into the process of serving the accountholder. AI does replace some human work, but AI is actually creating more jobs because it needs human direction to be built and implemented. AI experts can provide deep learning and natural language processing to advance AI even more. The goal is to free up human resources and allow those resources to be redirected to other areas of the business to serve your accountholders in deeper, more personal ways. In the financial institution space, contact centers and websites are the primary outlets for leveraging AI.
Why use AI in your contact center?
AI is tangibly helping your accountholders get their basic questions answered with seamless accuracy. This frees up human capital for other, more efficient tasks in the organization. One credit union reported a 95% accuracy rate in responding to contact center queries and most financial institutions that implement advanced AI in their contact centers report a 0% abandonment rate. Advanced AI is accomplishing this by analyzing phone numbers to detect fraud, matching accountholders voices with those on file, and intelligently providing a self-service experience for the consumer through chatbots.
Are you digitally resetting your financial institution? Here’s a free checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything.
If you’re already on the path to implementing advanced AI at your financial institution or are heavily considering it, here are some tips to get the most out of your AI program.
Getting the most out of your AI program:
- Use the data you already have. To teach AI how to work for your business, data must first be collected. This is good news for the banking industry since financial institutions already collect personal information from consumers and also have a database of transactional data. Partnering with a third-party AI specialist can provide even more integrated data. Use this data to teach your AI to optimize repetitive tasks.
Goal: Leverage existing data to optimize repetitive tasks.
- Launch an educational campaign to promote self-service options. Do your accountholders know how to self-serve for skip-a-pay, making a payment, or check their balance? Run a campaign introducing your AI service and direct consumers to their self-service options. After all, 62% of consumers prefer to self-serve with artificial intelligence over working with a human, especially in highly emotional financial situations like debt collection.
Goal: Engage accountholders with their self-service options to build confidence.
- Train staff. It is essential that employees understand, even at a high level, how your AI program works. This can reduce intimidation associated with the technology, aid in staff being more comfortable with AI, and understand how it helps them perform their jobs more efficiently. Training staff to become familiar with your AI platform will look different based on job and role, but will go a long way in establishing employee confidence and engagement.
Goal: Empower staff to work with artificial intelligence.
- Implement learnings along the way. AI won’t get it right all the time. Plus, what works for your accountholder base might not work for another financial institution. Don’t be afraid to tweak how you use AI to uniquely serve your accountholders.
Goal: Stay curious and adaptable.
- Don’t lose human connection. Technology leveraged in the right way will connect your consumers to your brand, products and services, and delight them with an elevated experience. Ultimately, artificial intelligence should enable more seamless experiences for self-service and answering straightforward questions, but shouldn't replace human interactions with your accountholders.
Goal: Continue to connect with accountholders in personal ways.
- Close holes in the consumer journey. Does your accountholder get directed to a voicemail after pressing 4 numbers? Are accountholder communications such as phone calls, emails, and text generic or do they include the accountholder’s name? Personalized communications help your consumers feel more connected to your institution and values. Generic and non-personalized communications can also be misinterpreted by accountholders as fraudulent, and they might be more likely to disregard the message. Identify any holes in your user experience and use AI to close these gaps.
Goal: Create a seamless, personalized user experience across all channels.
Considering an advanced AI solution for your contact center? Learn more here.
Getting the most value out of your AI platform will ultimately depend on your financial institution’s unique goals. As you think about the long-road of your financial institution, make sure that artificial intelligence is part of strategic efforts to connect with accountholders and serve them on a deeper level. These efforts will go a long way in expanding relationships, maintaining your competitive edge, and growing revenue.
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