North Side Releases VerbalAccess for Banks
North Side of Montreal is set to launch its VerbalAccess software, enabling consumers to access banking and financial services through text messaging or voice.
Customers can ask questions or conduct transactions in English using their own words and get precise answers. And when VerbalAccess doesn't understand the request, it asks questions to clarify the user's intent.
"VerbalAccess offers a conversational interface to a wide range of financial services: payments, transfers, applying for loans, exploring credit scores, searching for investments, managing credit cards, researching rewards, buying insurance, and filing claims are some of them," said Eugene Joseph, North Side's CEO, in a statement. "VerbalAccess will increase customer satisfaction by eliminating wait times. Text messaging or voice-based banking is a cool experience that will increase engagement, both from Millennial customers and customers who aren't as tech-savvy. By deflecting calls from live agents, VerbalAccess improves profitability. When customers explore financial solutions using their own words, they discover the particular loans, investments, credit cards, or insurance products best suited to their needs."
VerbalAccess relies on the same natural language understanding technology that North Side first applied to its Bot Colony video game.
"VerbalAccess enables a new experience, empowering self-service through text-messaging or voice. Voice-based banking enables people to bank while they're stuck in traffic, walking, waiting to be served, or riding an exercise bike, making it very easy for them to do what they want, when they want, from anywhere," Joseph said.
In the near term, North Side is currently looking to partner with a limited number of financial institutions to deploy and validate VerbalAccess.