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Digital Transformation

Royal Bank Of Scotland Shows Some Luv For Artificial Intelligence

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Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), an organization whose brands provide financial products and services to personal and business customers in the UK and beyond, is putting artificial intelligence (AI) to work in its customer support department. 

Luvo, a web chat application, is being used to help EBS customer support staff when they aren’t sure of an answer to a customer’s question. Luvo is capable of fielding questions by sifting through a vast amount of data very quickly. If an answer can’t be determined, the application directs the question to a human who can answer more challenging questions. Think of Luvo as live chat, but instead of a human responding, it’s a machine.

Three examples of questions Luvo can answer:

  1. My customer has lost their card – what steps do they need to take now?
  2. My customer has locked their PIN – how do they unlock it?
  3. How do I order a card reader for my customer?

The AI application was originally tested in a two-month trial of 1,200 employees who managed relationships with small businesses, before it was deemed successful. If the rollout to internal staff proves to be advantageous, RBS could pilot the technology with customers who typically wait for an advisor to ask more basic questions.

Luvo is slightly different from other AI that is currently being used in financial services. It was developed to have a “psychological profile” that is human-like, enabling employees to communicate with it more naturally. It’s supposed to make decisions like a human. Like most smart machines, Luvo becomes more efficient and accurate over time, as it learns from its mistakes.

In a press release, RBS Chief Administrative Officer Simon McNamara discusses Luvo:

“Luvo is a really exciting new technology that brings artificial intelligence to life and will help our staff serve customers better by resolving their questions and problems much more quickly. Its potential is huge and we’ll be exploring if Luvo could talk to customers directly to answer straightforward questions, freeing up time for our staff to answer complex issues.”

While AI has many functions in financial services, almost all are designed to improve the customer/employee experience.

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Eugene Sefanov

Director, Industry and Regional Marketing

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