BOSTON– The sales pitch may be that conversational artificial intelligence can cut wait times and reduce service costs for financial institutions, but one new report suggests the “real prize could be won elsewhere.”
That prize? Trust.
According to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Beyond the Bot: Why Embedded Conversational AI Is Banking’s Next Strategic Advantage, while trust has long been considered “fragile in digital banking, it can be built through the use of intelligent assistants.”
“Embedding AI into customer interactions is more than a technology upgrade,” PYMNTS said. “The findings signal a shift in the business model of banking itself. Early adopters are discovering that when digital assistants act less like search boxes and more like financial advisers, the payoff is not just efficiency but stronger customer relationships, higher satisfaction and, ultimately, new revenue streams.”
Repeating a Mistake
PYMNTS said its report found, however, that financial institutions that treat conversational AI as a plug-in feature rather than a core strategy “risk repeating the mistakes of legacy chatbots that left customers frustrated and distrustful.”
According to the report:
• 29% of customers are satisfied with chatbot support, compared with 60% for mobile apps and 57% for ATMs, underscoring how poorly first-generation bots have performed.
• 72% of consumers say personalization influences where they bank, pointing to the weight customers place on relevance and context in financial interactions.
• 64% of consumers prefer that companies avoid AI in customer service if it blocks human access, illustrating the thin line between trust and churn when automation feels like a barrier instead of a bridge.
‘Perception Gap’
“These numbers highlight a perception gap,” PYMNTS said. “Banks see AI as a cost reducer, but consumers judge it as a trust builder, or breaker.”
The report suggests that bridging this divide requires more than smarter code. It means designing with transparency, giving customers a clear path to human help and ensuring that personalization feels helpful rather than invasive, PYMNTS added.
“The broader conclusion is that conversational AI is moving from help desk to revenue engine. The future of banking may hinge less on slick apps than on empathetic, context-aware conversations that make customers feel understood in the moment,” the company added.
