ING is running a generative AI-driven chatbot pilot in the Netherlands before it scales the technology. 

The pilot funnels only 2.5% of clients’ chats into its gen AI chatbot, Chief Analytics Officer Bahadir Yilmaz told Bank Automation News at the recent Money2020 Europe event in Amsterdam.

Queries sent to the chatbot are selected at random and clients are notified that a gen AI-driven solution will answer their question, Yilmaz said.  

The questions answered by the chatbot are checked daily, “one by one,” he said, noting that, although it’s a manual effort, “that’s our policy right now.”  

“We are trying to make sure that everything is safe and secure before we scale it further,” he said. “We want to make sure that we are not really exposing ourselves to any undue risk.” 

For now, the bank continues to run tests, collect data and prepare to scale the tech, Yilmaz said. The bank expects to scale the chatbot across all geographies “in a year’s time.”