In the case of natural disasters and pandemic slumps, the Commonwealth Bank is steering affected customers to its relevant bank services tailored for each need through the power of artificial intelligence (AI).
Dr. Andrew McMullan, chief data and analytics officer at CBA, said the major bank aimed to go beyond traditional financial services.
McMullan pointed to the Customer Engagement Engine (CEEE), which harnesses AI to create a data weather model to help customers who have been impacted by natural disasters with a same-day support solution. This custom-built algorithm also alerts them of natural disasters before they happen.
“Using the power of our Customer Engagement Engine, we can connect with customers who may be impacted and also offer support that aligns to their needs, such as deferring a loan or offering an emergency overdraft,” McMullan said.
CBA has also reached out to retail customers and small businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic.
Dan Jermyn, chief decision scientist at CBA, added that CEEE and AI allow the bank to understand a customer’s financial situation and offer extra assistance when needed. For instance, CBA can inform customers of appropriate benefits and rebates, accessed through the Benefits finder feature in the CommBank App.
Benefits connects the customers with their share in unclaimed government rebates and benefits. Twelve months after its launch in 2019, Benefits enabled customers to save more than $481 million in utility bills and government payments using the finder feature.
CBA is keen to improve its AI-powered models to offer more personalised services to its customers, creating what McMullan called a “CBA ecosystem” fuelled for social good.
As a stride towards this direction, CBA has recently partnered with H20.ai to better predict bills and forecast cash flows for customers so they can plan ahead.
“Customers want to be in control, and through the combination of our award-winning app, powered by artificial intelligence, we can deliver products and services in the moment to manage unexpected expenses or irregular incomes,” McMullan said. “We intend to be one of the highest quality, lowest cost sources of leads to our business customers.”
