Bank of America’s AI-driven chatbot Erica has surpassed 1.5 billion client interactions since its 2018 launch, the bank said today in its second quarter earnings presentation. 

The chatbot totaled 166 million client interactions in the quarter, up 35% year over year, according to the presentation.  

WHY IT MATTERS: Before Erica, “all of [the interactions] would have been email, a text, a phone call, and they were all done through the customer entering [a question] into Erica and getting an answer,” Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said during the bank’s earnings call. 

Erica accounts for 60% of client engagement and is used mainly to monitor client subscriptions, understand spending habits and watch merchant refunds, according to a bank release. 

In fact, last year, clients spent more than 3 million hours interacting with Erica, a 31% YoY increased from 2021, according to the release. 

As Erica’s adoption and usership grows, the bank continues to invest in enhancements, Moynihan said, noting that Erica’s capabilities will “just keep expanding to become a higher and higher functionality.” 

BY THE NUMBERS: Bank of America posted in Q2: 

• An 11% YoY increase in total revenue to $25.2 billion, up from $22.7 billion during the same period last year; 
• A 19% YoY increase in net income to $7.4 billion, up from $6.2 billion in Q2 2022; 
• A 7% YoY increase in active digital users to 46 million, up from 43 million in Q2 2022; and 
• An 11% YoY increase in digital channel usage to 3.1 billion from 2.8 billion in Q1 2022. 

NOTEWORTHY: Bank of America’s noninterest expenses grew in Q2 due to investments in people, technology and FDIC costs, according to the earnings presentation. 

While noninterest expenses increased 5% YoY to $16 billion in Q2, the bank’s headcount dipped 1% sequentially to 215,546, according to its earnings supplement. 

Costs rose in Q2, but the bank reported that its employee turnover rate has dropped by half YoY meaning in the long term “we’re not training and hiring as many people,” Moynihan said during the call. The lower turnover rate “sets us up for the second half of the year.” 

In Q2, full-time headcount was down 4,000 people from the first quarter; headcount peaked in January at 218,000 employees, Moynihan said, noting that headcount is one area the bank can control in terms of expense. 

FLASHBACK: Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action against Bank of America for opening fake accounts, withholding cash rewards and double dipping on customer fees, according to the CFPB. 

The bank was ordered to pay $100 million to customers affected, according to the CFPB. 

“We went through the horizontal review by the [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and all the practices, and everything were changed,” Moynihan said, noting the CFPB worked to “clean it up this quarter.” 

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