Artificial Intelligence's Role in the Future of Banking

The world has arrived at a time where many of the high-tech machines and gadgets only featured in sci-fi movies decades ago are becoming a reality. The same goes for artificial intelligence.

The world has seen significant advances in AI development in the last few years. Take for example the digital assistants on smartphones and home speakers such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant and even the electric cars with autopilot features.

Meanwhile, New York-based company Personetics is taking AI to another field: banking. Forbes reported on Personetics’ ongoing efforts in helping banks around the world build AI systems that can observe a customer’s spending behavior, warn them of going over their budget, and even analyze how they can save money.

“You can apply the same principles to a bank account as a driverless car—once we understand your goals, your obligations and your way of living, there's no reason why machines can't make the right decisions, or even better decisions than a person can,” Personetics co-founder David Sosna told Forbes.

Currently, there are several banks around the world that have mass-released AI-powered banking services. But in North America, Royal Bank of Canada became the first company to adapt AI through its NOMI platform supported by Personetics.

However, is it really necessary for humans to seek help from AI-powered machines and programs in deciding what to do with their money? Sosna, obviously, thinks so.

The Personetics exec said that it is unlikely for people with bank accounts to actually sit down and maintain a check and balance to monitor the money coming in and how they are spending it. And this is where AI-powered platforms, specifically programmed for banking purposes, can play a big role.

Considering these realities and the continuous advancement of AI technology, Sosna suggests that enlisting help from machines in making financial decisions is “just a question of when, not if.”

While the thought of having a computer decide or suggest what to do to a human’s money in the bank might be perceived as very odd, Forbes noted that people who have experienced RBC’s NOMI platform actually “love” it.

And even worldwide banking organizations have recognized how this technological development is working well with personal banking. In fact, last month, RBC was awarded by Celent as the model bank largely because of NOMI.

In a press release, RBC cited NOMI’s services to its customers including “insights about a client's financials” and “fully automated savings solution” as factors to earning the prestigious recognition.