Bank of America is doubling down on voice assistant Erica

Bank of America just announced that its voice-activated assistant Erica now has over 10 million users and is on track to complete 100 million client requests.

Convenience is a top priority for consumers on mobile channels. When we use our smartphones, we expect things to be done quickly and easily. We expect a “modern” experience – something that is radically different than the website experience of the 2000s and even the 2010s. We expect quick, fast, efficient.

And yet, at the same time, we expect all the knowledge and wisdom that bankers used to have in the old days – knowledge about the different types of products, their details and limitations, information about how to transact on a daily basis and how to do more complex transactions, and much more. And we expect to be able to do everything ourselves. With minimal support. Over our phones.

The answer to a lot of this is digital assistants.

Digital assistant are artificial intelligence (AI) driven programs that can converse with you and help you with different things. You know like that voice on your phone that can play desired music or tell you the weather or even help you send out text messages? Yup, like that. Like an Alexa or a Siri, but for your bank or credit union.

Digital assistants (or at least the right ones) can combine natural language understanding with deep domain knowledge, so your voice command can directly be translated into the desired action. Say “transfer 500 dollars to my mom tomorrow”, and voila! The transaction is all set, ready for you to confirm. Or say “I need to put a hold on my credit card since I’ll be traveling abroad for a month”, and the hold is confirmed.

This is the type of convenience that Bank of America offers to its customers via “Erica”, their digital assistant. They’ve had huge success with it since customers are demanding more from their banks – more personalization, more efficiency, more convenience.

Digital assistants can take things even further by providing you recommendations on what type of accounts/cards to sign up for based on your spending history or telling you if they see some fraudulent activity based on your location. After all, the banks have all your data already. Why not put it to good use by leveraging some good new-fashioned Artificial Intelligence to help us, instead of using it purely for marketing purposes?

And, the best part is that they can do this across any channel based on your convenience. Whether you’re at home on your laptop on the bank website, or in your car and need to do a voice-based transaction over the mobile app, digital assistants can make it all possible.

interface.ai powered digital assistant transform banking from being a traditional, resource-intensive experience to a modern, friendly, convenient experience. Sounds like magic, doesn’t it?

Read our blog on: Digital Assistants can help Credit Unions overcome member support challenges