AI is seemingly everywhere, and banking customer service is no exception. The use of AI copilots for banking customer support is increasingly common. But what exactly are AI copilots, and how can they benefit both your bank and your customers? Below, we dive into what AI copilots are, their potential benefits and features to look for if you’re considering adding them to your contact center’s toolkit.
What are contact center AI copilots?
Contact center AI copilots help your agents ditch the stiff, scripted responses and provide better, personalized customer service experiences. So, how do AI copilots work? First, they use natural language processing (NLP) to better understand the context of the request. Then, they search your knowledge base for the most relevant answer. Once they find that answer, they summarize it to help agents quickly troubleshoot and resolve customer support tickets faster and more effectively.
Do I still need contact center agents in the age of AI copilots?
The short answer is: yes. While this technology can do many things, AI can’t replace humans. Many articles and blogs make it seem like you have to choose between humans and AI. But the reality is that the future of banking includes both, with AI augmenting agent performance rather than replacing them completely.
Why? In short, your human agents still play a critical role in shaping the customer experience. According to research by HubSpot, eight out of 10 customers prefer to talk to a human for large service issues.
Additionally, there’s still a significant trust gap when it comes to AI and financial services customers. Research shows that only about one in three customers (29%) trust AI answers for financial decision-making. While AI is certainly not going away, it’s important to leverage both AI and human agents for your banking customer support.
What are the advantages of using AI copilots for banking?
Generative AI banking copilots can be a vital tool for contact centers looking to help agents do their jobs better. Some of the key benefits of using AI copilots for your banking customer service strategy include:
- Improved agent onboarding
- Consistent omnichannel support
- Tailored customer experiences
- Improve first-call resolution rates
We go into the details of each below.
Onboard new agents and improve agent performance
AI is most effective when used to assist agents with their work, rather than replace them. For example, you can use AI to help with contact center agent onboarding or to train underperforming agents. In fact, research by Stanford found that AI tools helped agents who were already struggling to improve their performance by 14%.
Empowering agents to do their jobs well can help optimize your financial services contact center and improve the customer experience. It can also reduce onboarding time, improve agent NPS scores and overall confidence.
Provide a more streamlined omnichannel support experience
Banking customers reach out across multiple channels, such as phone, chat and via your app. AI copilots help agents deliver consistent omnichannel customer service by pulling from the same knowledge source regardless of the customer’s preferred channel. That means all customers get the same accurate answers whether they call or chat online, without agents having to hunt across disconnected systems.
Creating a consistent support experience across channels not only can improve your net promoter score (NPS) but also brand trust. In turn, if customers are happy with your bank or financial services institution, they’re less likely to churn or disengage.
Create a more personalized customer service experience
Three out of four customers are frustrated by the lack of personalized interactions with businesses. This means that if your bank creates the tailored experiences customers desire, you have a powerful opportunity to stand out from the competition.
This is where AI tools can potentially help. AI copilots help agents move beyond one-size-fits-all responses by surfacing tailored answers for each customer's request. Personalized support can be a critical strategy for improving brand trust. Trust is the new currency for brands, especially in finance. After all, your customers are trusting you with their pension, their savings, and other critical financial assets. Trust isn’t something they give lightly. Creating tailored experiences can show customers you understand their unique needs.
Improve first-call resolution rates (FCR)
First-call resolution (FCR) is one of the most critical metrics for your banking contact center. When agents have to hunt across disconnected systems mid-call, resolution times increase, which can lead to potential frustration for both the agent and the customer. AI copilots help by surfacing the right answer the first time, so agents spend less time searching and provide speedy issue resolution to customers.
The benefits of better FCR are significant. Here are just a few examples of the potential benefits for your agents and financial services contact center:
- Lower average handle time (AHT)
- Reduced repeat contacts and callback volume
- Reduced risk of agent burnout
- Potential for lower business costs
- Improved customer satisfaction
All of these potential factors can lead to a win-win situation for both customers and agents. And for this reason, AI copilots can be a powerful tool to consider adding to your current tech stack.
What should I look for in a generative AI banking customer support tool?
Not all AI banking tools are created equal. So, how do you choose the right generative AI banking copilot for your institution? We dive into some critical features to look for below.
A strong knowledge base
A strong knowledge base is the foundation of any good AI banking customer support tool. After all, as the saying goes, garbage in leads to garbage out. If copilots can’t access accurate data, they can’t provide your contact center agents with quality answers for effective troubleshooting. This can potentially hurt key contact center metrics for your bank and make customers question whether they can trust your institution with their money.
That’s why it’s important to have a knowledge base that actually works. This means going beyond traditional, static FAQ pages that can quickly become outdated. Ideally, the knowledge base should leverage other help content formats, such as interactive tutorials that can be more effective for learning. Instead of forcing agents and customers to scan lengthy text documents, AI copilots can send a video that provides step-by-step guidance for effective troubleshooting.
Content that dynamically updates
The world of digital banking moves fast. Changes in regulatory requirements or technology mean that static knowledge articles can quickly become outdated. But as the need for customer support grows, your team doesn’t always have time to manually update each document that addresses the various issues customers may encounter. This can create a major headache for both your team and your customers.
That’s why it’s important to look for AI copilot solutions that update dynamically. This helps ensure your agents always have access to accurate information to provide quick diagnoses of customer issues and speedy resolutions. Having access to consistent, accurate answers can help your agents demonstrate your institution’s expertise and help foster trust between customers and your bank.
Omnichannel support capabilities
These days, most customers aren’t walking into a physical branch of your bank. When they have an issue, they’re not always picking up the phone. This is especially true of Gen Z customers. Research shows that only 17% of Gen Z is willing to call your contact center.
However, the reality is that all customers may reach out to you on a variety of channels. They might start out on your website, go into your mobile banking app and then call to speak to an agent. That’s why it’s so important to choose a tool with omnichannel capabilities. This way, the agent has the context from the customer’s previous interactions, which helps them deliver speedy customer service. It also means that the customer doesn’t have to repeat themselves, which can reduce the risk of customer rage or frustration.
Leverage the power of AI for your banking customer service strategy
The future of effective banking customer service includes AI. However, generative AI banking customer support tools don’t replace your human agents. Your contact center agents still have a critical role in the customer experience.
Instead, tools like agent-assist AI will help agents do their jobs better. This can benefit your contact center by improving critical metrics, onboarding agents more quickly and creating a more personalized support experience. AI copilots for banking will become one of many valuable tools in your banking contact center’s tech stack.
Looking for more tips on using AI in your financial services contact center? Check out our e-book on the future of banking support. Grab your free copy today!
