EXCLUSIVE – Welcome BMO Bolt, Bank of Montreal’s virtual assistant on social media platform Facebook Messenger. The bot, announced today, was created in partnership with conversational banking technology company Finn.AI.

BMO customers shouldn’t get too excited about handing over control of their financial lives to the bot yet, though. This chatbot provides only unauthenticated information, meaning things like frequently asked questions, exchange rates, or inquiries about BMO’s banking products and services.

Granted, the bot can answer about 250 commonly asked questions, according to Carrie Russell, EVP of product and customer experience at Finn.AI.

“If those questions cannot be answered by the bot,” she told Bank Innovation, “it will seamlessly direct the user to a representative through Facebook Messenger.”

Whether Finn AI is working with BMO on creating a personalized chatbot, Russell declined to answer.

Even though this chatbot might not be as useful as an authenticated artificial assistant, it will be make it easier for Canadian mobile bankers in some respects. For one thing, “people can ask questions in conversational language,” as Russell said. Plus it’s quicker and more convenient.

And since the chatbot uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, it will learn to answer additional questions each time it interacts with a customer, allowing the technology to continually evolve, Russell explained.

While Russell could not reveal the number of mobile bankers on BMO’s mobile app, she pointed out that  84% of the Canadian population use their smartphones to access Facebook  and in that number 38% perform mobile banking tasks from their device.

“It’s also a great way for the bank to engage with potential customers,” she told Bank Innovation.

BMO is the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America, totaling $728 billion in assets as of January 31, 2018. It has over 12 million customers, according to its website. 

As of this morning BMO Bolt is live on FB Messenger.

“That too is interesting,” Russell said. “We are taking the product direct to the public and not launching it in beta.”