A new report from Forrester has argued that while banking chat bots can be effective in some circumstances, the automated technology can often lead to uneven or worse experiences for customers.

Forrester conducted a test of banking bots, finding that the bots either failed to complete a request or provided an awkward experience in about one-third of chats. Bots even found some small tasks problematic – for example, Forrester asked the bot how much money it had available before making a transaction, to which the bot replied that “you have undefined money remaining”.

The research suggested that, with the exception of China – where multiple banks have bots on WeChat – banks should focus on foundational digital initiatives such as data infrastructure until the artificial intelligence market has improved to roll out better bots.

Forrester analyst Peter Wannemacher commented: “A few banking providers are beginning to dip their bank-shaped toes into the bot space: Capital One allows customers to take actions like paying bills via Alexa on Echo devices; Bank of America has announced plans to roll out a bot on Facebook Messenger; and numerous Chinese providers offer banking services via WeChat.

“But while a few banks are in a position to experiment, digital business executives at most banks must decide whether to use precious resources to build or buy a chat bot offering.”

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