Virtual assistants

A voice banking feature was the overwhelming winner in the Speed Round competition at this year's CUNA Technology Council Conference, but it remains to be seen how widely that technology will be adopted in 2018 and beyond.

Virtual assistants at banks in Israel, Canada and Hong Kong are getting smarter thanks to artificial intelligence.

While technology will let many banks cut staff and reduce the size of branches, factors such as geography, customer demographics and strategic direction will ultimately shape the look and feel of future offices.

The Long Island-based credit union will soon launch on Google Home and the Google Assistant app, and further technological advances are in the pipeline.

Execs from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BBVA, Ally Bank and others outlined their AI strategies, progress to date and lessons learned at BankAI this week.

Readers react to USAA teaming up with Amazon’s Alexa, how a new Wells Fargo’s scandal could affect arbitration rules, a digital identity startup’s ambitions, and more.

Customers can ask Amazon’s virtual assistant about account balances, spending habits and financial questions that they may be too embarrassed to ask a human.

As the CFPB prods banks to improve their debt collection processes, tech firms are applying artificial intelligence, chatbots and self-service portals to create a more enlightened approach.

The chatbot at DBS’s digital bank in India handles most customer service questions but can also sense when it is time to hand something off to a real person.

Product searches can be confusing, which can increase card abandonment and cut into sales. Virtual assistants and other customer service improvements can solve the problem, writes Arjun Mendhi, a director at Infinite Analytics.