AI’s Influence on Mobile Banking

September 7, 2021 - 7 minutes read

In today’s society, we hear a lot about artificial intelligence and how it’s being used to perfect different aspects of our lives, from
finding an apartment in a competitive city such Los Angeles to asking Alexa to play a song from your Google Home device. And, while AI for these different applications undoubtedly makes life easier, there is one industry, in particular, that is using artificial intelligence to its fullest potential. 

Remember when you actually had to go into the bank to make a deposit? With mobile banking, you can now do anything from depositing a check to transferring money from your checking account to your savings, all with the click of a button

Okay, so most of us know about the bells and whistles that accompany mobile banking apps, however, are we aware of the level of influence artificial intelligence has on these features? It turns out, that artificial intelligence plays an incredible role in supporting basic banking functions today. And to address this growing need San Diego-based mobile app design firms are filling the void, adding these fundamental needs. 

In this article, we will discuss some of the many ways in which AI technology is optimizing the user experience in the mobile banking industry.  

Better Customer Service Powered by AI

Whether it’s the long lines, inconvenient business hours, or mediocre coffee there’s no denying that the bank is one place most people prefer to avoid when given the option. 

Enter mobile banking. 

With just the click of a button, we can skip the lines and deposit our paycheck right from our smartphone. In addition, we no longer have to stop at the bank if we have a question about our account. We simply open the banking app and click the button that says “customer service”. 

But, what does AI have to do with customer service? The answer is chatbots. Using artificial intelligence and machine-learning, chatbots are able to receive and answer different questions that customers may have about their account or banking services. 

Think about it – have you ever used the “live chat” option when you had a question for your bank? If so, you probably recall getting an automated response from a chatbot with a list of options to choose from. Many companies use this technology as it provides a medium through which customers can get prompt responses. Of course, while straightforward questions can be answered by chatbots without issue, highly detailed questions will almost always be forwarded to a customer service representative for further assistance.    

Nonetheless, Martha Bennett, a principal analyst at Forrester Research who specializes in emerging technologies explains, “those straightforward queries can take up as much as 80% of the load in inbound questions from customers.”

AI’s Emphasis on Compliance and Fraud Protection

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, internet crime has spiked resulting in the compromised data of millions of victims. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the banking industry was among the most targeted industries. However, some good did stem from this revelation; banks began to realize that there was room for improvement in their methods of fraud protection. So, they put AI to the test. 

Presently, artificial intelligence is being used in mobile banking to not only optimize the protection of consumers against fraud, but also to detect and prevent potential cases of fraud before they happen.  

For instance, Aarti Borkar, vice president of product and strategy at IBM explains, “we’re able to recognize patterns of behavior for users who regularly log into an application, such as a banking app, including whether they hold their mobile device horizontally or vertically, the way they type their password in a particular way and mouse movements… we combine those behavior patterns with machine-learning models to build a risk model to better assess the identity of the individual using the bank app.”

In addition to fraud protection, artificial intelligence is being used by the mobile banking industry as a means to comply with government banking regulations. Because these regulations can be a costly liability if left unchecked, banks are using AI virtual assistants to do everything from monitoring customer transactions and behaviors, to logging information on compliance systems. 

What’s Next for AI and Mobile Banking?

In a recent NVIDIA survey of financial services professionals, over 83% of respondents stated that artificial intelligence is critical to the future success of their company. 

Needless to say, the trends we discussed throughout this article are expected to progress and evolve as more businesses seek to incorporate artificial intelligence into their core operations. In addition, some other trends expected to experience rapid growth are:

  • AI-powered payment protection
  • AI-accelerated computing for traders
  • AI-derived insurance policies

While it isn’t entirely clear what the end goal is for AI in mobile banking, what is clear is that artificial intelligence and machine learning provide countless opportunities for the mobile banking industry to efficiently optimize their user’s experience.

t’s our hope here at Dogtown Media that this article provided you with some valuable design strategies for your business to consider when exploring your next mobile banking applciation.

Have experience building a mobile application related to banking? Tell us your experience in the comments below!
