Delivering Financial Insights via Voice and Chat

Right now, the benefits of conversational experiences, which I define as any “typing or talking through a device for utility gains”, are centered around convenience. Consumers are able to request and receive fast answers to simple questions, 24/7. This is a good thing, but it’s not everything …

Ron Shevlin, Director of Research at Cornerstone Advisors, published a great article recently expressing his observations on the noisy topic of “AI/chatbots/voice” within the banking industry. He argues that “For banks and credit unions to succeed with AI/chatbots/voice, a more fundamental change in the attitudes consumers have towards the banks and credit unions they do business with–and a fundamentally different type of relationship–is required. A relationship built on a value proposition of advice, not convenience.”

I largely agree that one of the long-term value propositions of conversational experiences must be centered around an ability to offer advice. Having said that, financial institutions need to take the first steps towards kick-starting an advice-driven relationship with consumers over these channels, and in my opinion, it doesn’t need to be overly complicated, just valuable to consumers.

Financial institutions need to take steps towards an advice-driven, valuable relationship with consumers through #voice and #chat channels. Click To Tweet

I might suggest that before financial institutions try to offer advice, providing financial insights might be a better way to ease into an advice-driven relationship.

Here are some examples of how…

The first step towards an advice-driven relationship doesn’t need to be 100% driven by “artificial intelligence”, in fact, it shouldn’t be. It can be as simple as collecting inputs, making a calculation, then providing an output.

For instance, Ally Bank has developed CurrenSee. CurrenSee reframes the cost of an item in terms of how many hours a consumer would need to work to afford that item.

Another great example is Umpqua Bank, who deployed an app called Best Financial Friend that keeps a human in the equation. It’s a great way to collect the data you’ll need for future complex questions, and more importantly, observe how consumers respond to the service over time!

The objective of these experiences (voice, chat, or otherwise) are to simply provide insight that leaves the consumer more informed about how to evaluate a financial decision. I think it’s that simple.