In an increasingly competitive environment, financial institutions (FIs) are under pressure to deliver more personalized, seamless interactions with customers and prospects in order to remain competitive. As with other industries, adoption of AI to help achieve this goal is occurring at a rapid pace. Too often, however, AI adoption and implementation is being driven by a feeling of “FOMO” and leadership teams who want to clearly signal to stakeholders that their business is innovating with the latest technology rather than implementing a more strategic approach.
A Practical Application for AI-Driven Search Tools
From an operational standpoint, FIs are well positioned to benefit from AI as they are required to manage large volumes of content and inquiries, such as customers exploring banking products or employees navigating complex internal processes.
Progressive FIs are leveraging AI-driven generative search engines to revolutionize the way they operate and interact with their customers. GenAI-powered search tools offer a range of capabilities that can enhance both employee efficiencies and customer experiences, including:
- Customizable indexing options and semantic search for managing complex inquiries;
- Summarizing extensive content to simplify data comprehension and retrieval;
- Navigating extensive content libraries and integrating external sources; and
- Delivering intelligent search, centralized knowledge bases, automation and continuous support.
Improving Customer Use Cases
Customers want to feel that they – and their time – are valued by their service providers. AI-driven search engines support this by improving search functionality, delivering highly personalized content and anticipating customer needs through excelling in key areas of classification, interpretation and prediction. When applied intelligently, these tools can better classify customer inquiries, interpret their intent and then predict the best, most appropriate course of action – all ensuring a more efficient and effective response to the customer.
To date, FIs have relied on chatbots to assist customers, but their shortcomings have been exposed, leading to customer frustration and fatigue. GenAI-powered search tools have proven themselves more effective by generating new content and providing more comprehensive and contextually accurate information based on customer queries.
With AI-driven search engines in place, FI customers are no longer forced to waste time sifting through endless menus or dealing with unhelpful bots. Rather, customers benefit from proactive, prompt and precise responses that simplify the digital banking experience.
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From the customer’s perspective, AI-driven search tools offer a smoother and more intuitive experience, delivering intelligent, conversational-like responses without presenting themselves as sterile chats, which customers often dislike. Instead, customers are able to access and receive the correct information instantly. This reduces friction, enhances customer satisfaction and most importantly, strengthens the ongoing relationship between FIs and their customers.
The Optimal AI/Human Balance
Internally, GenAI-powered search tools enable FIs to streamline their operations by centralizing knowledge, allowing employees to quickly access the most relevant information for their customers. Additionally, by intelligently automating routine tasks, banks can do more with less – lower overhead costs, fewer support tickets and greater overall efficiency – while minimizing many of the common bottlenecks that traditionally slow down operations.
FIs are able to reduce the need for manual interventions in customer support (such as searching for information or routing requests) which enables teams to focus on more complex tasks. A key benefit of AI-driven search engines is their ability to empower customer service representatives with real-time insights and context, ensuring that reps can preserve the vital human connection that customers expect from their financial institution by providing relevant information more quickly.
GenAI in a Consolidating Industry
The past few years have seen a good deal of consolidation within the retail banking industry. Each time one FI acquires another, or two banks merge, it creates opportunities for operational inefficiencies and disjointed customer experiences. Generative AI is incredibly useful in a post-M&A environment as it quickly merges the systems and documentation of both entities. By consolidating decades of data from both FIs, GenAI search tools help internal teams more readily navigate the combined product and service offerings, while also facilitating smoother customer transitions from day one.
GenAI supports the formation of the new FI by learning from the merged FIs’ systems and identifying trends, patterns and gaps in both internal and customer-facing documentation. This level of automated insight supports a smoother transition, quickly surfacing potential issues or areas where better alignment is needed, from harmonizing product offerings to streamlining customer service across the newly combined customer base.
Quite literally, AI-driven generative search engines are transforming the financial services industry by addressing key business challenges and enhancing both employee efficiencies and customer experiences. As these tools continue to evolve, they will play an increasingly important role in helping FIs deliver more personalized, seamless interactions with customers and employees alike.
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