TOPICS: Chatbot for Finance    Chatbot Trends   

Chatbots For Banking - Institutions building Chatbots Are More Than Just A Trend

The past few years have seen a huge surge in the use of chatbots for banking purposes. Some of the world’s most prominent banks have integrated online chatbots into their websites and mobile apps, and the stage looks set for new banks to follow suit. The fact that AI bots would gain worldwide acceptance in an industry that handles something as sensitive as people’s money, may seem ironical at first. But look a little deeper and you can clearly see why people have warmed up to the idea of interacting with chatbots for banking related tasks.

Banking chatbots can lead to new accounts:

Like any other service, banks need to continue acquiring new customers. The average user doesn’t usually differentiate between banks, unless they have an existing relationship with one of them, or one of the banks offers something unique that they’re interested in.

In most cases, users don’t see the need to go out of their way to contact a bank and seek information about its interest rates or special services. They either find the information on the bank’s website, or move on to the next bank.This is where an online chatbot can make a big difference. If users browsing your bank’s website are greeted with a polite ‘hello’, invited to ask questions about a product, and pointed in the right direction where they can find relevant information, they take home a much better impression of your bank.

Chatbots and conversational money management:

Prompting new customers to open bank accounts and purchase financial products is just the beginning. Banking chatbots have an even bigger role to play in what comes next – money management. More and more users are switching to mobile banking.It’s easy, intuitive, and it lets them keep an eye on their funds round the clock.

The same parameters apply to their money management preferences.Your customers want to be able to enquire about the status of a service request, know their credit score, set and manage budgets, and receive notifications about all their transactions – as quickly as possible. AI bots that can provide this information, right from the convenience of your bank’s mobile application or website, can do wonders for your bank’s image. It’s hardly surprising that the likes of Bank of America and Capital One have already taken this route, and several others are offering some of these services via Messenger bots.

Banking chatbots for customer support:

Studies have already shown that people find phone calls tedious and slow as compared to instant chat. Our experience building chatbots for banking institutions also suggests this. People like the reliability and consistency that chatbots bring to a conversation. Imagine that you have a basic issue that you need help with. You type it into a live chat window, knowing that you’ll get a response within seconds. You receive an acknowledgment that your complaint has been registered. Now, you want to post a follow-up question the next day. You do the same thing – ask the chatbot. Isn’t it easier than calling a helpline twice and talking to a different person each time?

When you’re a bank, your customers want this convenience. At the same time, they don’t want an entirely impersonal experience. The kind that an email or online form brings, for instance. Customer support chatbots for banking institutions offer them a nice mix of both their preferences – a conversation with a personal banker, and the speed of a live chat.

Banks today cater to a much more tech-savvy audience than they did a decade ago. They don’t just need to inspire trust in their potential customers, they also need to appear competent, efficient, and up-to-speed with the latest technologies. A round-the-clock instant chat feature is something that people are beginning to expect in any modern service. Which means that banks with chatbots built into their websites have a competitive advantage, and are likelier to attract and retain customers.

Are you looking to create a chatbot for your bank or financial institution? Take a look at some of our banking chatbot examples, or reach us with your questions.