Australians will soon be able to apply for home and business loans via artificial intelligence without having to speak to a human.
That’s the view of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which is already looking to agents who can complete income verification and other stages of the loan application.
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It’s not quite there yet, but the country’s largest bank has taken a step forward by revealing it is pilot testing Commbank Companion, an AI-powered agent tool built within its mobile banking app.
The bank says the tool will allow individual and business customers to ask and search for information about home purchases, financial status, cash flow, savings, and other goals using readily available information about themselves and completely without human intervention.
However, due to banking industry rules and regulations, this conversation tool is not intended or permitted to be a substitute for financial advice and does not make direct recommendations about banking products.
The theory is that the customer is in control, especially when it comes to what they choose next, according to the terms of the contract.
According to CBA, this is a big step forward from banking chatbots, as companions can act intuitively while solving questions and take action while understanding you and your likes and preferences.
For example, let’s say “Alex” is 28 years old and wants to buy a house, and one weekend he finds a property he likes. In the CBA world, she asks her companion what it’s worth and how to reach her deposit goal, and receives an answer in real time. With the plan finalized, the companion will continue to act as a guide to save Alex.
“This is certainly more than a customer-facing chatbot. This is much more than that,” said Sam Hemphill, general manager of customer channels and data.
CBA claims the companion is the first customer-facing front-end agent developed by Australia’s Big Four banks. Macquarie Bank, which is not a Big Four bank, offers Q in its app, which it calls an agent support tool.
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Angus Sullivan, head of CBA’s retail banking services group, said: “This is going to be a very competitive field.”
“My expectation is that the native app experience will become an increasingly conversational, agentic digital experience that becomes the core of how we engage with customers.”
According to CBA data, modern banking apps are used by more than 9 million Australians every day (about 33% of the population), who log in on average 1.4 times a day.
The companion has already been tested with 10,000 bankers and some business customers and will be rolled out in stages.
It is expected to be “live” for thousands of retail and corporate customers by the end of June.
CommBank Companion’s announcement comes ahead of the bank’s AI customer conference in Sydney on Tuesday, where the heads of OpenAI, Coles and Canva will speak on the outlook for AI adoption.
This article was first published by ah.
