Regions Bank taps IBM for AI-driven customer service

Regions Bank has selected IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help improve customer service and assist bankers in everyday work.

Regions Bank is using Watson in its contact centres to help both customers and employees. The company’s Banker Assist uses Watson Assistant to provide bankers with guidance on customer inquiries.

According to the bank, 700 professionals rely on Watson to complete customer problem resolution.

Additionally, Watson Assistant can quickly answer questions by Regions customers, spanning issues including updating personal information and navigating the Regions Bank website.

Over time, Watson will be trained on other tasks, including analysing customers’ tone to help determine when a customer should be transferred to a live agent.

“At Regions we are investing in technology to make banking easier for our customers and to recruit and retain talented associates,” says Chris Brasher, head of bank operations for Regions Bank.

“IBM Watson’s automated intelligence is an important tool that allows us to operate more effectively by understanding customer needs. We are identifying additional use cases for this technology as part of our focus on continuous improvement across the company.”

The technology firm says that 62% of banking customers will consider switching to a competitor after only one or two bad experiences, and more than 90% of customers share details about bad experiences with others.