Bank of America delivers first widely available AI–driven virtual financial assistant — Bank of America — “Bank of America is rolling out the first widely available AI-driven virtual assistant of its kind in financial services, Erica, to its 25 million mobile clients… Erica is designed to learn from clients’ behaviours over time, helping them accomplish simple to complex tasks within the mobile banking app with easy-to-follow prompts. Clients can interact with Erica any way they choose, including texting, talking or tapping options on their screen.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Wells Fargo puts AI into mobile app to help customers manage their money
Wells Fargo adds AI enhancement to mobile app, giving personalized account insights to customers nationwide — Wells Fargo — “Insights range from flagging higher-than-normal automatic monthly payments so that customers may look into a change to a reoccurring bill, to reminding a customer to transfer money from savings to a checking account to avoid a possible upcoming overdraft… Currently there are over 50 different prompts a customer can receive based on past and expected future account activity, with plans to continue adding new insights regularly. The feature will expand to small business and credit card customers later this year.”
Commonwealth Bank introduces chatbot that can answer 200 banking and payments questions
Commonwealth Bank launches chatbot named Ceba — Commonwealth Bank of Australia — “Commonwealth Bank has launched its chatbot Ceba to assist customers with more than 200 banking tasks such as activating their card, checking account balance, making payments, or getting cardless cash… Available 24/7, Ceba can recognise approximately 60,000 different ways customers ask for the 200 banking tasks and will eventually be able to tell customers what they are spending their money on.”
TD Bank acquires artificial intelligence specialist Layer 6
TD Bank Group acquires artificial intelligence innovator Layer 6 — TD Bank — “Layer 6 adds new capabilities to TD’s growing base of innovation talent and know-how. Artificial intelligence has the potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications from personalized and real-time advice to predictive analytics that will shape the future of banking for millions of individuals.”
Calling all payment, card and secure credential technology suppliers
2018 is set to be a pivotal year for banks, card issuers and secure credential providers around the world as new market entrants, regulatory environments and technical innovations place increasing pressure on traditional banking and card issuing business models... More
US consumers ready to share purchasing data with financial services AIs
NTT Data study finds Alexa and Siri will drive the digital customer experience of the future for financial services firms — NTT Data — “Consumers are comfortable providing FSIs [Financial Services Institutions] with access to a wide range of data if it enables them to provide advice on spending, insurance products or coverages, or targeted financing options to meet their financial goals. 68% would share online retail purchase information, 61% would share geolocation information, 49% would share Uber, Lyft and OpenTable information, 42% would share Facebook and Twitter information.”
Millennials back biometrics and AI for payments
Millenials driving demand for AI and biometric security — Vocalink — “77% of millennials thought that new AI technologies such as virtual assistants and hands-free speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home are appealing as payment devices. In addition, 28% of millennials have used fingerprint technologies to verify payments and 35% of the group now believes that fingerprint technology is the most secure method of verification followed by iris scanning at 22%.”
Wells Fargo to offer mobile-first bank accounts
Wells Fargo announces a mobile-first banking experience to encourage financial health — Wells Fargo — “Combining personal finance management tools with Wells Fargo banking, the Greenhouse experience will help consumers pay bills on time, spend confidently, and start to build a savings cushion — all while providing personalized insights through artificial intelligence to help them stay on track. Greenhouse, a standalone mobile app, will be available in a limited, national pilot in the first quarter of 2018 and will launch for Apple iPhone users during the first half of 2018.”
Canadian bank lets customers use learning AI to transact in Facebook Messenger
ATB Financial rolls out world’s first full-featured virtual banking assistant on Facebook Messenger — ATB Financial — “What makes ATB’s virtual assistant unique? Far beyond a Q&A chatbot, its sophisticated banking transaction abilities offer robust personal financial management tools tailored to fit the needs of each individual customer. Customers can seamlessly pay bills, view account balances, send Interac e-Transfers or transfer money between accounts, as well as perform cross-currency money movement all from within their Messenger platform… The virtual assistant is always learning. The more customers engage with it, the more it will be able to do.”
TD Bank to add AI to mobile banking app
TD announces conversational AI platform agreement with Kasisto — Kasisto — “Through the AI-powered interactive chat interface, TD app users will be able to check account information, review transaction histories and monitor spending levels. In addition, customers will also be able to get instant answers about specific spending-related questions including how much they spent on a recent weekend getaway, what their largest transaction was last week, or what they spent on categories like groceries or coffee last month.”
USAA launches pilot of new skill for Amazon Alexa
USAA launches pilot of new skill for Amazon Alexa — USAA — “USAA’s skill for Amazon Alexa pilot will leverage Clinc’s artificial intelligence conversation management technology to produce a more human-like interaction from Amazon Alexa, as the skill remembers context, follow-up questions, and complex human language. This technology will also learn as members interact with it and infer information not explicitly specified by users throughout a conversation.”
Wirecard explains how the IoT and AI will transform the future of payments
“When it comes to payments and the IoT, we are witnessing a lot of activity and potential within this space,” Jörn Leogrande, executive vice president of mobile services at Wirecard, explains in an in-depth article now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Coca-Cola reveals AI-powered vending machine app
Coca-Cola reveals AI-powered vending machine app — Venturebeat — “The app, which launches in about two weeks in places like US universities and locations around Australia and New Zealand, will allow you to order a Coca-Cola drink for yourself and a friend, then have it available on the vending machine.”
What’s New in Payments 2: Special report sets out the latest thinking on the future of payments — free of charge
Payments experts from the European Banking Authority, Yandex, Vodafone, Orange, Dejamobile and Wirecard are among eight contributors to What’s New in Payments: Volume Two, a 76-page special report on the future of payments which is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Alibaba challenges Google, Amazon with new Echo-like device
Alibaba challenges Google, Amazon with new Echo-like device — Bloomberg — “Importantly, the gadget — powered by the AliGenie system — may eventually simplify shopping for the Chinese e-commerce giant’s 450 million active buyers who turn to the website for everything from cherries to makeup. It will begin formal sales from August 8 only for China and won’t come with a display.”
Survey finds consumers view contactless shopping as both ‘cool’ and ‘creepy’
A survey of consumer attitudes to emerging technologies has found that the majority of both US and European consumers now believe that using fingerprint scanning to pay for purchases is ‘cool’ — but UK and European consumers are divided on the idea of contactless shopping services like Amazon Go, with 40% considering the technology to be ‘cool’ and 31% seeing it as ‘creepy’... More
Leumi Card to use Feedzai’s artificial intelligence platform to fight fraud
Leumi Card to use Feedzai’s artificial intelligence platform to fight fraud — Feedzai — “‘Fraud mitigation tools have not kept pace with today’s mobile-enabled, always-connected consumers,’ said Gilead Kehat EVP human resources and staff of Leumi Card, ‘Feedzai’s agile machine learning platform helps predict and prevent fraud before it impacts our customers.’”
Meet the Chinese finance giant that’s secretly an AI company
Meet the Chinese finance giant that’s secretly an AI company — MIT Technology Review — “The smartphone payments business Ant Financial is using computer vision, natural language processing, and mountains of data to reimagine banking, insurance, and more… The company — which already operates a hugely successful smartphone payments business in China — aims to upend many areas of personal finance using machine learning and AI.”
Samsung Pay adds Bixby voice-controlled banking in South Korea
Samsung Pay users across South Korea can now use the Bixby artificial intelligence feature in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus handsets to conduct transactions with their voice, including completing peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers and finding out their account balance... More
At Alibaba, artificial intelligence is changing how people shop online
At Alibaba, artificial intelligence is changing how people shop online — Alizila — “Alibaba is spreading artificial intelligence throughout its core e-commerce operations, making it a cornerstone technology to speed the arrival of what company officials envision to be the future of not only e-commerce, but all commerce.”