U.S. Bank entered the voice chatbot space last week with the rollout of its voice-activated tool, Smart Assistant. According to Ankit Bhatt, chief digital officer for consumer at U.S. Bank, the tool was built with input from customers and data from bank support centers.

“We made a decision early on that when we designed this assistant, we would take a voice-first approach,” Bhatt said, adding that humans on average can type 40 words per minute but speak 130 words per minute. The bank relied on input from the blind community to help develop the assistant. “It resulted in a better product, not just for people with disabilities but for everyone.”

Chatbots have been gaining favor in financial services recently. Conversational AI company Interface, for example, told Bank Innovation in May it had seen a 140% volume increase since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while NatWest’s digital assistant Cora has answered 12 million questions since its 2017 launch according to the bank.

As chatbots become more commonplace in financial services, banks are coming up with new ways to make the technology conversational and seamless. With Smart Assistant, U.S. Bank joins a growing list of big banks developing and utilizing chatbot assistants, including Royal Bank of Canada and TD.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, which has $495 billion in assets, used natural language processing technology from Ann Arbor-based Clinc to help Smart Assistant understand customer intent. The bank applied its own business logic on top of the conversational technology from Clinc so the tool could retain context. Bhatt said the bank uses analytics, like accuracy and response times, to improve the tool, and Smart Assistant will continue to learn post-launch. 

Bhatt said the bank looked at call center transcripts to better understand pain points. Smart Assistant’s functions include reviewing account activity, setting travel notifications and paying bills. According to Bhatt, “accessibility consultants,” consisting of a team of 10 to 15 people helped with Smart Assistant’s voice functions to ensure the bank’s UX is usable for everyone. 

Toronto-based TD, which has CA$1.7 trillion ($1.27 trillion) in assets, last year launched a digital chat assistant called TD Clari that customers can use through voice or text. “TD Clari was designed to offer as natural an interaction as possible for customers,” said Imran Khan, head of global digital experience at TD. To make that a reality, the bank turned to an unlikely source: Hollywood. The bank used screenwriters from California and Canada to make the technology more conversational. 

According to TD, screenwriters follow what is called a “writer’s bible” to ensure characters stay consistent, even when multiple writers give them lines. With TD Clari, the screenwriters could create a conversational chatbot that followed the bank’s customer service standards. Khan noted that TD Clari is an ongoing project. 

“Usage-driven updates will immediately improve the customer experience and close any gaps that might exist,” Khan said. “This includes watching for questions that the chatbot couldn’t answer, keeping content up to date, and investing in building out key capabilities that are coming up in conversations.” In June, Khan told Bank Innovation Clari’s traffic had doubled since the start of the pandemic.

RBC, also based in Toronto, offers a chat function through Ask NOMI, where customers can ask questions of the bank’s digital assistant. “We did research and exercises in tone and personality to ensure we got this right,” said Benoit Germain, senior director of digital product at RBC, which has CA$1.52 trillion in assets ($1.09 trillion). “To ensure this experience extended to our French-speaking clients, we had our French and English content designers write alongside each other, instead of relying on translating.” 

See also: Tech Focus: Do chatbots have a long-term future after COVID-19 bump? 

According to the bank, Ask NOMI has answered almost 2 million questions from more than 350,000 customers since launching in mid-March. 

Tiffani Montez, senior analyst at Aite Group, previously told Bank Innovation the key to chatbot adoption will be providing consumers with actions to improve their financial health. “[Banks] need data and analytics for consumers on how their actions affect their financial health,” she said. “How do you create experiences for consumers that allow them to achieve peace of mind that help them meet their financial goals?”

Bank Innovation Build, which takes place Sept. 9-10 as a virtual experience, is a must-attend industry event for professionals overseeing financial technologies, product experiences and services. Register here.