A Decade of AI Innovation: BofA's Virtual Assistant Erica Surpasses 3 Billion Client Interactions
Rhea-AI Summary
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) announced its AI-powered virtual assistant Erica has reached a significant milestone of 3 billion client interactions, serving nearly 50 million users since its 2018 launch. The platform now averages 58 million monthly interactions and has delivered over 1.7 billion personalized insights to clients.
Erica's capabilities include managing spending, budgeting assistance, and investment guidance across nearly 50 topics. The system demonstrates 98% accuracy in providing information and has undergone over 75,000 updates since launch. The AI assistant has expanded beyond retail banking to serve Merrill, Benefits OnLine, and CashPro platforms, while also supporting 90% of Bank of America employees, reducing IT service desk calls by 50%.
The success of Bank of America's AI implementation has earned recognition, including being named the top U.S. consumer bank for AI use by Global Finance magazine.Positive
- Erica achieves 98% success rate in providing information to users
- Platform handles 58 million monthly interactions, demonstrating massive scale
- AI implementation reduced IT service desk calls by 50%
- 90% employee adoption rate shows strong internal integration
- CashPro Chat handles over 40% of client interactions, improving efficiency
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- None.
"Erica has been learning from our clients for many years, enabling us to leverage AI today at scale, globally," said Hari Gopalkrishnan, chief technology and information officer at Bank of America. "Our early and ongoing investments in AI demonstrate our commitment to delivering innovative experiences and value to clients."
Clients have received and interacted with more than 1.7 billion proactive, personalized insights delivered by Erica. Some recent examples of how Erica is helping clients stay on top of their finances include:
- Highlighting BankAmeriDeals cash back deals for clients based on their spending.
- Alerting clients which way their balances are trending in the next 7 days.
- Notifying clients of their eligibility for Preferred Rewards, increasing the value of their relationship with the bank.
- Providing guidance on nearly 50 investment-related topics, allowing Merrill clients to engage with Erica when managing their banking, investment and retirement relationships.
- Scheduling an appointment via Erica, creating a seamless handoff to high-touch service channels.
"Our clients appreciate Erica's ability to help them manage their spending, improve budgeting and increase savings," said Nikki Katz, head of digital at Bank of America. "Erica is the bedrock upon which we've built an unmatched high-tech, high touch client experience."
Clients have spent more than 18.7 million hours conversing with Erica. More than
Bank of America's data scientists have trained Erica to recognize and respond to millions of client questions using a library of more than 700 responses. The system has undergone over 75,000 updates since launch to continuously improve the client experience. Over the next year the bank will expand Erica's abilities further to offer more personalized insights to help clients know more about their finances.
At Bank of America, AI capabilities are designed to be scalable and reusable across different areas. Erica is embedded today across the enterprise, assisting clients and employees and driving efficiencies in several areas, including within Merrill, Benefits OnLine, CashPro®, and others. For example:
- ask MERRILL® and ask PRIVATE BANK® help wealth management teams efficiently curate information to deliver superior client experiences. With approximately 23 million interactions per year, these tools are also helping advisors and other employees more proactively connect with clients about timely and relevant opportunities.
- CashPro® Chat, the virtual service advisor for the CashPro platform, helps business, commercial and corporate clients quickly view transactions, find information about accounts, and more. CashPro Chat is used by
65% of clients, with Erica handling greater than40% of client interactions. - Erica for Employees is used today by over
90% of Bank of America employees, with the virtual assistant having reduced calls into the IT service desk by50% . The capabilities will expand this year to offer enhanced search and assistance across a broader set of topics – including answers to employee questions about Bank of America products and services.
Bank of America's approach to AI and proven use cases have earned the company several industry accolades. Most recently, the company was named the top
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.
Reporters may contact:
Andy Aldridge, Bank of America
Phone: 1.980.387.0514
andrew.aldridge@bofa.com
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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation