Written by Deniss Fiļipovs, Latvijas Banka's payment technology expert and Marlene Sabine Ryan, a LB trainee from the Deutsche Bundesbank, the paper says: "AI will play an increasingly important role in banking, which is currently facing major changes driven by the rapid development of technologies, changes in customers’ habits, the desire to receive services in the digital environment rather than in person and by new financial services providers that are more flexible, use new systems and challenge the old banks."
Virtual assistants dealing with customers instead of fellow huiman beings provide one example.
"Financial services providers and public administration are currently actively introducing other types of assistants, such as chat robots or chatbots, to help customers to find answers to topical questions. These virtual assistants are able to provide answers to frequently asked questions orally or in writing 24/7. However, opinions on this innovation are divided: some believe that a bank or provider of other services can thereby be better reached, others consider that an organisation tries to economise human resources without the consideration of whether chat robots really provide better customer experience in communication with a bank," says the research.
The full paper is available to read online at the bank's dedicated macroeconomics section in English. .