Finance Chatbots

What is a finance chatbot?

Finance chatbots are the future of business messaging in the banking and finance industry; they plug a gap in the accounting industry by supplying 24/7 customer support. In a nutshell: finance chatbots are designed to make online banking a breeze.

There were 197 million digital banking users in March 2021, and this number is expected to reach almost 217 million in 2025.¹ With so many customers turning to online accounting solutions, providing around-the-clock support is becoming more important than ever. The opportunity for the finance chatbot is clear — it’s a simple solution to keeping customers satisfied even when human agents aren’t available or operate in different timezones.

Covering everything from basic questions on how to open an account to more complex issues like an account freeze, a finance chatbot can either point the customer to the right resource, help them solve the issue, or direct them to the appropriate agent. Given the importance of customer support and that customers want quick responses when their money is involved, finance chatbots can solve many of the issues you face.

Common finance chatbot use cases

To extract the real value of finance chatbots, it’s worth diving into the individual use cases that speak to its versatility in the banking and financial services industry. The following five real-world use cases should give you a clear idea of how a finance chatbot can help your business:

1.  Providing financial advice

Customers these days are looking for more than just a place to store their money; they want personalized advice based on their current financial situation. Providing around-the-clock financial advice to customers might not be practical, which is why the finance chatbot is often a better option.

The Bank of America’s chatbot, Erica, provides you with an all-in-one financial hub through the mobile app so customers can track account incomings and outgoings in real-time. Furthermore, Erica can keep customers up to date on their financial health by bringing up recurring expenses when they’re higher than normal.

Erica supports investments, too, providing quotes and performance tracking and placing trades for customers with Merrill investment accounts.
 

2. Fraud reporting

Financial chatbots can make fraud reporting much more straightforward and, in so doing, alleviate one of customers' primary fears with online banking. Take the example of Eno, Capital One’s virtual assistant, which can send a message to a customer if there’s an unusual charge on their account. If the customer determines that it’s suspicious, Eno can walk them through the fraud reporting process.

A smart finance chatbot can monitor for signs of fraudulent activity and inform the customer within minutes, providing 24/7 security and peace of mind.
 

3. Promotions and cross-selling

For Finserv companies that offer promotions for insurance, mortgages, and loans, a finance chatbot can point customers to the right products and get them started.

Ally Bank’s Ally Assist is programmed to anticipate the customer’s needs, so if, for instance, it identifies that they’ve made a recent move, it can propose renters insurance and other related products. This can lead to an increase in upsells and help customers find the products that they need.

4. Evaluating Risk Profile

For customers interested in making investments through their provider, a Finserv chatbot equipped to evaluate the risk profiles of various options can be a value-adding service.

To return to the example of Bank of America’s virtual assistant Erica, the AI chatbot can advise Merrill customers on investments and portfolio performance and deal with general trading queries. Erica can also display a customer’s credit score for real-time referencing.
 

5. Fetching Statements

Alongside the more involved operations such as investment advice and promotion pushing, chatbots also do the basics well.  For HDFC bank, OnChat provides customers with a simple way to recharge their mobile phones, pay utility bills, and even book tickets for buses or trains.

Other chatbots can provide customers with instant access to their bank balance upon request and show various statements to reduce the time the customer has to spend navigating the app.