MoneyLIVE Webinar Discusses Using AI to Build Context-Rich Conversations
By W.B. King
During a recent MoneyLIVE webinar entitled “Beyond the Channel: Building Context-Rich Conversations in Banking,” panelists from NatWest, Quadient, Nordea, Standard Chartered and HSBC were presented with a question from Lindley Gooden, moderator and cheerleader-in-chief at the London-based Greenscreen: “What does genuinely personal customer engagement look like in the AI era?”
Among responses was that simply investing in more channels is no longer the right strategy for financial institutions. “It’s important to invest in the right channels be they apps, chat, video or voice, but to truly unlock that human magic experience, that comes from contact,” said Tammy Martin, Head of Connected Customer Experience at NatWest. “It’s about demonstrating we know who the customer is, we know the outcome they want to achieve and also demonstrating that we care enough to understand what happened previously or any changes in their personal circumstances or key life events.”
The goals for FIs, Martin added, is that a conversation with a customer should never feel like a new conversation but a continuation of one that has successfully transpired. Gooden agreed but asked Henrik Kier, Head of Digital Customer Engagement Engineering in One Digital at Nordea, how FIs should create a new single customer view. “We don’t have to look from inside out but from the inside in. We have to bridge all our different silos of data together to get that view. So, the customer doesn’t feel that they are just a card customer or not just an account customer, but ‘I’m actually a full customer and my journey is here.’”
Moving From Information to Intelligence
When the conversation turned to AI and how it is being integrated into different aspects of banking, Aysara Yusupova, Europe Head of Digital Channels Solutions at Standard Chartered, said she sees AI capabilities evolving in specific ways over the coming years.
“It will be integrated and I think we will stop talking about AI as this standalone thing. It will be embedded into many different interactions and even human interactions will be assisted by an AI,” she said, adding that there will be a move from information to intelligence. “It’s no longer just self service through these digital means but moving into assisted decision making, more informed decision making. Things will become a lot more conversational.”
Gooden next asked the panel how evolved, conversational and intelligent AI will be safely governed. “Customers these days are very good at telling us where the line is. If a communication saves them time and helps with a decision or solves a problem, it generally feels helpful to our customers,” said Monika Kashyap, Decisioning Lead- Customer Lifecycle Engagement, Commercial Banking at HSBC.
“If they are wondering why they received it [a message], that feels intrusive. When we communicate there should be absolutely transparency as to why, and the customer should feel in control of the experience,” Kashyap continued. “The trust is ultimately determining whether that proactive engagement will be successful or not.”
Assisted-Led Processes
When it came to one-way banking alerts, the panel said technology is helping this “stilted” platform evolve into a more flexible and supportive platform. Damian Parker, Head of Financial Services and Banking at Quadient, which sponsored the webinar, noted that one longstanding issue with these types of alerts is that they are sent early in the day. So, whereas customers are informed about an overdraft or loan decision, for example, they are often not provided with actionable intelligence to address the issue.
“There is an opportunity to move from a notification-led thought process to assistance led process,” Parker said. “If a customer moves from an email alert to an app or a human interaction, the organization should be able to understand the context of what happened previously and not expect them to start again in that journey.”
