Will the banker of the future be a robot ? This is the question that more and more observers are asking themselves following the meteoric progress of artificial intelligence in the field of finance. But what exactly is meant by artificial intelligence and will it revolutionize the sector to such an extent ? Little overview between myths and reality.
Artificial Intelligence and Finance
Studied and put into practice in large research laboratories for more than half a century, artificial intelligence (IA for short) can be defined as the capacity of software, a program or machine to interact with humans or other software, programs or machines while learning at each exchange or interaction. Even if there are not yet tools specifically dedicated to the banking sector, artificial intelligence is increasingly interfering in finance and many banks are using start-ups with the main challenge of improving customer relations.
So, more and more banking institutions are installing platforms on their website using artificial intelligence and neurolinguistic programming to help visitors find information more easily and faster and this in 24/7 mode and 7d / 7. Visitors ask their questions in the form of complete sentences and receive an “intelligent” answer to their question, the software constantly improving from the experiences of previous visitors. Customer satisfaction increases, the bank becomes more reactive because it can follow in real time what customers are looking for and if the answers to their questions already exist and the performance of their call centers improves because less solicited by customers who have not found answers to their questions on the website.
Others are already going further by using artificial intelligence as a substitute for customer managers for basic requests. True virtual assistants, software sorts, analyzes, responds to e-mails or informs customers about bank offers.
And this is just the beginning: thanks to their automatic learning capacity, IA technologies will reach a maturation process in the future which will allow them to provide customers with a more personalized, richer and more complete banking experience, not only by writing but also by voice !
Artificial intelligence also gives banks the opportunity to build a 360 ° view of their customers. It can carry out a watch on the web and social networks in order to assess the e-reputation of an establishment and analyze the emails raised by the agencies in order to measure the customer relationship and the rate of satisfaction. More and more banks are currently implementing software capable of collecting and processing users’ online feedback forms. Artificial intelligence can also be of great help for economic intelligence and marketing. By studying the products and services, the type of communication and the customer relationship mode adopted by competing establishments, it allows the bank to adapt its strategy accordingly.
Artificial intelligence is also a tool of choice to reduce the time taken to process files, speed up the risk analysis process (in a few minutes instead of several weeks!) and reduce the likelihood of money laundering during an investment or credit. By analyzing contracts signed according to defined rules and data from different private and public sources, it is capable of providing an almost instant response.
Artificial intelligence also enters the trading room. In December 2017, ING became one of the first banks to use IA technology to help traders get the best prices and faster in the bond market.
Many requests will be processed automatically in the near future. The IA is able today to extract the important information contained in a claim file, analyze the type of damage in question and understand whether or not it is covered by the insurance policy. It can also reduce the time taken to process loss or theft reports from bank cards. Without forgetting the simplification of internal processes such as recruitment by automatically analyzing and crossing the published job offers and the offers received.
So, will the robot really replace the human ? No, quite the contrary. By relieving him of many repetitive loads, IA technology will help the banker in his decision-making and allow him to focus only on value-added tasks. As paradoxical as it may seem, artificial intelligence will make the bank even more human.
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