Backbase launches agentic AI chat tool that takes action

Engagement banking platform Backbase today launched Conversational Banking, an agentic AI tool that converts chats with customers into banking action. The tool’s AI agents can translate natural conversation with bank customers into action, such as blocking or replacing lost cards, checking payment progress, and furthering service requests, according to a release. The tool also chat with bank employees. [caption id="attachment_57389543" align="aligncenter" width="456"] (Courtesy/Backbase)[/caption] Agents — acting within permissions and rules defined by the bank — use customer context and connected banking systems to take the appropriate action. Should a request require investigation or human judgment, the agent sends employees an overview of the case and the work already completed, while keeping the customer involved, according to the release. “The customer won't get a different experience all of a sudden because of an escalation to a bank employee,” Roland Booijen , chief product officer for agentic banking at Amsterdam-based Backbase, told FinAi News . This prevents friction from customers being handed off to multiple employees and tools as a case escalates, and keeps customers “updated as the request progresses, regardless of channel, so the conversation always continues,” he said. Even when a request is escalated, the chat window remains the main interaction point for customers, reducing the need for phone calls or branch visits. Monitoring for efficiency, accuracy Every completed action produces a record of what was approved, by whom and under which policy. “They will be monitored in real time and continuously, flowing into the regular banking operational service-level agreements as needed, where a kill switch is the backstop at any given moment in time [if] an agent misbehaves,” Booijen said. Backbase will work with banks to complete detailed testing prior to deployment and spent years crafting the tool to reduce flaws, according to Booijen. “Conversational Banking is a two-year roadmap coming to life,” he said. Creation was supported by Backbase’s June 23 acquisition of Kasisto , whereby it embedded the New York-based company’s IP into its system, Booijen said. Kasisto, founded in 2013, was a software company that developed conversational AI for the financial services industry. Testing prior to launch Conversational Banking runs on Backbase’s AI-native Banking OS and operates alongside digital banking stacks, according to the release. Banks can begin using the tool for selected use cases, connecting the required systems and configuring controls without replacing their online or mobile banking platforms. Conversational Banking is running at more than 10 banks, Booijen said, including: Chinabank ; Meriwest Credit Union ; Nedbank ; Standard Chartered ; VeraBank ; and Westpac . The tool has already supported 22 million customer interactions at an unidentified South African bank, improving self-service containment to 70% from 20%, according to the release. Agentic AI could cut bank operating costs by 15% to 20% by automating routine requests and reducing repeated information gathering, according to data released in December 2025 by research and consulting firm McKinsey & Co . “Backbase's conversational AI has delivered ... tangible savings through increased automation and call containment while giving customers a faster and more convenient service experience,” Gene Fichtenholz , chief technology officer at Meriwest, said in the release. For FinAi Lending Summit–related news, click here .

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Backbase launches agentic AI chat tool that takes action

Tool improved self-service containment to 70% from 20% at one beta-testing bank

36% to 98% accuracy: Fifth Third’s ‘stark’ lesson in AI testing

How U.S. Bank measures ROI of AI

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