Meet Erica, Bank of America’s Chatbot for Digital Banking

Bank of America announced its new chatbot, Erica, at Money20/20 in Las Vegas. Erica should roll out for BofA digital and mobile banking users “late next year,” according to a spokeswoman from the bank.

At an event where chatbots were one of the main topics of interest for many of the 10,000 attendees, BofA’s Erica stood out. One simple reason for that could be that so far, this is the only bank-branded chatbot that we’ve seen. Chatbots for mobile banking have existed for some time now, both on mobile apps and in other services like Facebook Messenger.

BofA's Moynihan Lets Slip That Processing Costs Are 90% Lower via Mobile

From Bank Innovation –

“So now we know.

Brian Moynihan, the chairman and chief executive of Bank of America, disclosed yesterday the rate of savings the megabank is getting from its customers shifting to mobile banking for services: 90%.”

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Bank of America Takes Another Step Toward Branchless Banking

From The Motley Fool –

“Bank of America announced on Tuesday that customers can now access its mobile app with their fingerprints, doing away with the need to enter a passcode. It's a tiny tweak, but it nevertheless represents an important step in the direction of branchless banking.

One of the biggest challenges for a bank like Bank of America concerns what to do with its expansive (and expensive) branch network. Ten years ago, its coast-to-coast network of physical locations was arguably its greatest competitive advantage. But today, it's evolving into an albatross.

A consulting firm that tracks the performance of bank branches, FMSI, estimates that transaction volumes at credit unions and community banks have fallen by 45% since 1992. Meanwhile, the hourly pay rate of branch employees has increased by 90% over the same period. The net result is that the cost of each in-branch transaction has risen by 133.3% in just over two decades.”

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