Financial institution of America is allocating $4 billion — or almost a 3rd of its general expertise funds for this yr — towards new initiatives together with AI, in line with a Tuesday (April 8) information launch.
The funding comes because the monetary providers big sees the fruits of utilizing synthetic intelligence (AI) and machine studying since 2018, when it launched an AI-powered digital assistant referred to as Erica to assist shoppers with monetary issues — 4 years earlier than ChatGPT turned a family title.
BofA stated it noticed the next features throughout its enterprise items:
- Erica for Workers, an inside AI chatbot constructed on the customer-facing Erica, is being utilized by greater than 90% of BofA’s 213,000 workers. This has lowered IT help calls by greater than 50%.
- Financial institution of America builders utilizing a generative AI-based coding assistant noticed effectivity features of 20%
- Workers save tens of 1000’s of hours per yr through the use of AI to arrange supplies for enterprise shopper conferences, which they redirect towards shopper engagement.
- Customer support representatives use an AI software to ship a extra personalised interplay with shoppers, lowering name dealing with instances.
- Gross sales and buying and selling groups use a generative AI platform developed internally to go looking and summarize BofA analysis and market commentary “extra shortly and effectively.”
BofA’s expertise is an instance of AI’s affect in monetary providers and serves as a practical case research to its friends simply embarking on the identical journey. Its tech funding is a part of a broader technique to embed AI throughout its operations to spice up effectivity, worker productiveness and shopper service.
The monetary providers firm has been deploying AI and machine studying since Erica debuted seven years in the past. Financial institution of America stated Erica has since dealt with greater than 2.5 billion interactions and serves 20 million lively customers.
The interior model was launched in 2020 and shortly gained traction through the pandemic, initially serving to workers with IT help duties like password resets and system activations. It now gives help on a variety of matters, from well being advantages to payroll kinds.
The financial institution plans to additional broaden Erica for Workers’ capabilities this yr, incorporating generative AI to assist staff extra simply entry details about the financial institution’s services, amongst different matters.
Learn extra: Financial institution of America Says Actual-Time Funds Join Companies to Working Capital
Scaling Buyer and Worker Coaching
Financial institution of America’s skilled improvement arm, generally known as The Academy, can also be leveraging synthetic intelligence for worker coaching. Employees accomplished greater than 1 million simulated shopper interactions in 2024, receiving real-time suggestions designed to assist them present higher service.
Instruments like askMerrill and askPrivate Banking, which apply the identical AI expertise behind Erica, have additionally seen rising use — garnering greater than 23 million interactions in 2024, up 1 million yr over yr. These platforms assist Merrill and personal banking groups find related info in addition to escalate queries to human consultants, if essential.
AI can also be getting used to course of buyer suggestions at scale. A generative AI system deployed in name facilities summarizes shopper conversations, lowering the necessity for guide transcription.
“AI is having a transformative impact on worker effectivity and operational excellence,” Aditya Bhasin, BofA’s chief expertise and data officer, stated within the launch. “Our use of AI at scale and all over the world allows us to additional improve our capabilities, enhance worker productiveness and shopper service, and drive enterprise development.”
BofA stated it holds almost 7,400 patents and pending functions, together with greater than 1,200 targeted on AI and machine studying.