Citi to explore IBM's supercomputer for mining customer data

Citibank has entered into an agreement with IBM to explore possible uses for Big Blue's Watson supercomputer in mining customer data.

IBM's Watson machine caused a stir last year when it beat two human competitors to claim the $1 million prize on the US quiz show Jeopardy. Unusually for a computer programme, Watson excels at analysing the meaning and context of human language, aligned with the ability to quickly process vast amounts of information.

Citi says it will evaluate ways that the technology can help decipher customer needs by sifting through huge quantities of up-to-the-minute financial, economic, product and client data.