Meriwest Credit Union’s AI-driven chatbot, Scout, powered by Kasisto’s KAI digital assistant platform, launched in February and accomplished the work of two, full-time, call center employees within its first two weeks. 

The bot — which can hold conversations with the credit union’s 80,000 members, offer self-service capabilities and integrate with digital banking — is also trained to reflect the Meriwest brand through its responses, Gene Fichtenholz, vice president of digital strategy and engagement at Meriwest, told Bank Automation News.

Between November 2022 and January 2023, the Meriwest team developed questions and answers for Kasisto to integrate into Scout, and the bot went live in February 2023, Fichtenholz said. 

KAI is a white-label platform that allows clients to personalize the bot and reflect the financial institution’s brand, Kasisto Chief Executive Zor Gorelov told BAN. For example,  as an extension of the credit union’s call center, Scout was trained to respond to customer queries with a distinct, charming and intelligent persona. 

Through KAI, Kasisto wanted to “democratize financial services using conversational AI to help users make better financial decisions,” Gorelov said.  

At the $2.3 billion, Silicon Valley, Calif.-based Meriwest, Scout can answer client questions regarding spending or transactions, and it can provide financial advice, Fichtenholz said. 

Since launching its Kasisto-powered chatbot, Meriwest has found: 

• In the first month, the credit union saved 250 to 300 hours in telephone calls; 
• Scout regularly assists 7,000 digitally active credit union members since the launch; and 
• Scout answers customer questions during nonworking hours.  

Integrating Scout

To integrate into the credit union, Kasisto can pull the necessary data through Meriwest’s digital banking platform without direct connectivity into the credit union’s core, Fichtenholz told BAN.  

This one connection path allows for easy maintenance “which coincided with our architecture,” he said.  

Kasisto’s KAI is also used by JPMorgan, Standard Chartered Bank and TD Bank, Gorelov said. 

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