An automated email response to bank customer queries can do more harm than good if the response is tardy or inaccurate. Banks are starting to take notice, and with an increasing number of visitors to bank Websites, several banks have sought personalized email response software.
As the result of a deal in late May with San Francisco based-Banter Inc., Royal Bank of Canada will deploy an email response system that can understand a message’s intent, and direct the email to the proper bank employee.
Most current email response systems detect key words. The "Banter Reply" software detects natural language and filters queries based on the type of questions asked.
The filters send the email to one of five different business groups at Royal Bank’s online services division. Responses are then suggested by Banter Reply. A Royal Bank employee then has the option of altering the response and replying to the customer directly. Any changes made to the basic responses are highlighted and sent to Royal Bank online services managers.
Bruce Green, senior manager of enterprises Web services at Royal Bank, expects an increase in the volume of emails sent though the bank’s online division. The bank currently receives over 1,000 emails per day, and has 43-45 employees staffed to tend to customer emails, says Green.
"With email traffic increasing, we want to be fast and accurate," says Green. "But we also want to avoid having to hire new agents. This should help us do that."
Banter was founded in 1996, beginning as a research team in Israel. It then began working with Wells Fargo’s online division and eventually deployed its Banter Reply software across the San Francisco-based bank’s Websites. Following its partnership with Wells Fargo, Banter licensed its Reply software to Amsterdam-based ABN Amro.
Stephen Glapa, vice president of marketing at Banter, says the deal is an important move for Banter as it attempts to extend its reach in the financial services sector. "Banks are taking a lot of different approaches to CRM," says Glapa.
