To measure the “satisfaction” rate of bank customers, Sailpeak, a European consultancy firm specialising in the banking sector, therefore conducted a study whose conclusion leaves little room for doubt as regards Belgium: “Belgian banks’ chatbots are far from offering the intelligent and personalized service that customers expect.” Explanations.
1. What is the study about?
“We evaluated the ‘public’ chatbot – access to which is not linked to an account – of 65 major European banksexplains Nico Vincent, founder of Sailpeak. We asked about a hundred questions each time. We started with simple things like ‘I would like to make an appointment’, ‘I would like to open an account’ or ‘my card has been stolen and I would like to block it’. he begins. Then we went a little further, writing ‘I would like to open a bank account and I am 21 years old’ or ‘I would like to speak to an advisor for a property purchase, can I make an appointment’. Then we asked questions about investment possibilities. And we also tested the chatbot to see if it did not reveal confidential information, respected cybersecurity rules and criteria related to the regulation of financial markets, etc. We also tested it to see if it was not hallucinating, as artificial intelligence tools sometimes do.” (who invent a crazy answer when they don’t know the right answer, Editor’s note).Finally, we tested the possibility of having access to a human being.”
The banks’ highly selective strategy to recover money from the government bond
2. What are the conclusions?
The study evaluates how the chatbot understands the question or request, but also the quality of its response. And the verdict is final: “Overall, today’s chatbots are really extremely dumb. They mostly duplicate ‘FAQ’ (‘Frequently asked questions’, NdlR) banks and appear as search boxes in a list of frequently asked questions, answers Nico Vincent. And they suffer particularly from the comparison with artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, which have become very popular and which, for almost two years, have reconciled people with chatbots. Especially since ChatGPT and Gemini now offer the possibility of interacting with voice, adding a little emotional intelligence. All things banking chatbots don’t (yet) do: “Today, no chatbot is yet conversational, relying on the language process and on generative artificial intelligence”, regrets the founder of Sailpeak.
3. What about Belgian banks?
They stand out for… their poor performance. Sailpeak looked at five of them (Belfius, BNPP Fortis, KBC, ING and Beobank) but was only able to evaluate the first two, the only ones to offer a ‘public’ chatbot. Result: out of the 24 European banks finally tested, BNPP Fortis (with a performance of 8 out of 20) and Belfius (6.2/20) occupy 15th and 20th places in the ranking.
Belgian banks stand out for their poor performance.
Note: only 4 out of 24 European banks obtain a score higher than 10/20, including the British Natwest (12/20), the Finnish S-Pankki (10.9/20), the French Société Générale (10.2/20) and the Norwegian Storebrand (10.1/20).As for Belgian banks, they have taken a first step by adopting chatbots, but our study shows that there is still a world of difference between the potential of this technology and reality. And the limitations of current chatbots are not only a source of frustration for customers, but they also represent missed opportunities for banks.”insists Nico Vincent.
4. And for the future?
How does the Sailpeak manager see the technology developing in the coming years?The good news is that many banks have plans to invest in chatbots, so far mostly developed in-house. Some will, first, add a bit of AI, which will allow for a bit of hybrid technology; then generative AI. (which can generate text based on its learning, Editor’s note)within 2-3 years, to be able to enable much more efficient discussions with their customers, with a level of understanding and response to questions clearly more in line with our expectations today, hopes Nico Vincent. And in 5 to 10 years, a customer will be able, for example, to contact their bank via an AI-enhanced chatbot because their boiler or TV has just broken down and they want to buy a new one,” he continues.
“And this chatbot will be able, as if it were a human agent, to answer questions like ‘Do I have the financing capacity to borrow 7,000 euros to change my boiler? Yes or no, and at what rate?’. The chatbot will be able to decide to grant a loan, instantly, which will have to be accepted by the customer via the Istme authentication application, for example. And the money will be sent directly to their bank account, seven days a week, and whatever the time of day or night, parie Nico Vincent. On the other hand, for operations that are more akin to advice than a transaction, such as investment advice, a conversation with a human being will remain essential, even indispensable.”
أخبار متعلقة :