Customers are getting more and more accustomed to technology and are starting to have higher expectations. In the last few years, companies have been trying to integrate more artificial intelligence (AI) into their businesses but haven’t been succeeding to the expectations of customers. Now, however, the AI experience is increasing dramatically allowing for more apps and programs to assist your customers. Even Bank of America has recently announced a new AI Chatbot named Erica to help you with your banking needs.

About Bank of America’s Erica

Ercia, a play on the bank’s name according to CNBC, will use artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and cognitive messaging to communicate with customers through the new Bank of America app. Given that mobile banking customers logged into their accounts over 950 million times in the third quarter, Bank of America has a good idea of what their customers are and are not using and what they do and do not need from AI Chatbot Erica. Customers will be able to ask Erica questions through the app, and Erica will be able to give spending advice to help save money. The best part of the app will be that Erica will be available to customers 24/7 instead of only during limited hours like human customer service reps.

Providing a better experience for customers

Having intelligent assistants that easily respond to customers will greatly improve the customer experience. In the past, chatbots haven’t worked as well as we would have liked, but AI has improved drastically giving customers the much needed service experience they want. Of course, it does not limit the need for human customer service representatives at this point, but it does fill a need for people to be able to communicate through their smartphones instead of having to always call or email for answers to simple questions. If you consider every customer has different needs, it is important to provide for those needs by having live people for customers to speak with as well as AI Chatbots for customers who prefer not to talk to someone for their simple questions.

Two-way text communications

While it would be nice if every business had the resources to put together an app using artificial intelligence to create a personalized platform for their customers, it is unnecessary in many situations, especially when two-way texting with AI Chatbots is also available. Businesses often waste their time and resources on creating an app that is useless for the type of business they run, but it doesn’t mean their customers don’t need some way to communicate with them through their smartphones. Texting is a platform that everyone has on their cell phone, and you don’t have to get customers to dedicate room on their phone to your specific app just so they can ask questions whenever they want.