As the makeup of our society and culture continue to change, we, too, must stay ahead of the curve in customer experience and process efficiencies. Whether we want to admit it or not, the customer experience and efficiency are correlated and impact one another. Artificial intelligence is becoming the technology to increase the customer experience and operational efficiencies in the lending process. The potential of artificial intelligence to transform your business is here. Your exposure to artificial intelligence has already occurred and you probably aren’t aware of your interface with it.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
In simple terms, artificial intelligence, or AI, involves a computer that does something that would normally require human intelligence. For this to occur, AI involves machine learning where a computer has to learn how to respond to actions by using algorithms and data to create a model; a model to predict. While this description is very basic, AI can accomplish much more, and one factor always remains: we, as humans, are still needed to do the work behind AI. Think of it as automation of certain tasks that take a lot of time when done by us humans. Freeing up your time to focus on the most important aspects of your job can potentially increase in a positive way the customer experience and realize operational efficiencies.
Hmmm… the wheels are turning, aren’t they? Do you see the interface with lending? With risk? With fraud prevention
You are Already Interfacing with AI – How?
Across all industries, AI is in the here and now. Think about this. Perhaps you, as a customer, have a question about your account and you are on your bank’s website. Ever use a chatbot or online messenger to get your questions answered?
If you are a parent of a K-12 child or children, how many times have you used some type of scheduling software for parent-teacher conferences? This software is powered by AI.
Also, think about Netflix. Notice that when you’ve finished binge watching a certain genre of a series, Netflix will provide you recommendations based on what other consumers watched who also liked the series you just finished. That’s AI.
Or, it goes without explanation, Alexa or Siri. You get the picture.
Examples of AI in the Financial Services Sector
Regardless of what side of the desk you sit, you know that the financial services industry is rich in data, from deposits to lending. Here are some examples of AI interface:
- Enhanced customer relationships: Regardless if you’re calling your institution about your deposit account, loan, or a general question on interest rates, AI technology allows institutions to create a seamless experience from customer identification/authentication to chatbots and voice assistants to actual insights and recommendations based on your original request.
- Mobile banking: In these times, we can access our account information anywhere at anytime with the help of AI.
- Strategic decision making: AI systems have the ability to provide optimal solutions gathered from real-time available data. These solutions are then kept in a knowledge database to allow banking executives to make strategic decisions.
- Lending: During the loan application process, AI could analyze documents submitted by the applicant and manage it more efficiently. The borrower experience could see improvements by the reduction of the time it takes to get an application approved. Improvements to the online application process with AI would include questions based on specific answers provided by the applicant. This would perhaps shorten the process and narrow in on qualifications.
- Risk management: AI can handle large amounts of data for analysis is a short period of time. Algorithms are used to create models of prediction, and it’s done quickly. So, forecasting and business planning can experience significant process efficiencies.
- Fraud prevention/enhanced regulatory compliance: With online transactions, AI has been and will continue to be extremely useful in the prevention of fraud. Think about BSA and the identification and reporting of suspicious activity. Think about automated monitoring of transactions. Also, on the front-end of customer relationships, AI helps with Know Your Customer checkpoints.
More examples can be imagined. In this space of financial services, caution needs to be considered when selecting AI technology as there are laws and regulations that need to be tightly followed. Making sure than AI and machine learning will not increase risks to compliance are important considerations and must be tested.
Nonetheless, AI is here and now is your time to jump on board.
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