NAB launches Google Assistant pilot

Launches ‘Talk to NAB’

NAB EGM digital & innovation, Jonathan Davey

NAB EGM digital & innovation, Jonathan Davey

NAB customers will be able to use Google Assistant to ask a range of questions about accounts, credit cards, personal loans, travel cards and Internet banking as part of a pilot program by the bank.

The bank today launched the ‘Talk to NAB’ app, developed by NAB Labs. The app will work with Google Home or any smartphone equipped with Google Assistant.

“It’s our job to make banking simple and easy for our customers; we know they want more self-service capability and they want to be able to solve basic questions in a channel that suits them and when it’s convenient for them,” NAB executive general manager, digital and innovation, Jonathan Davey said.

The NAB executive said the program was “very much a first step for us in the voice-based smart assistance space” and that it would work on enabling Google Assistant to answer more questions about its products and perform more tasks.

“Providing instant help to basic questions gives our customers the convenience they want and complements the work of our frontline bankers, ensuring they are spending more time with customers on the issues that are most valuable and important to them,” Davey said.

NAB also has a Facebook-based chatbot pilot underway.

Last month NAB launched a chatbot for its business customers that it described as a “digital virtual banker” capable of answering more than 13,000 variations on more than 200 questions relating to business accounts.

The bank’s subsidiary UBank earlier this year indicated it was experimenting with new interfaces for its online RoboChat service, which was NAB’s first foray into chatbots.

Potential interfaces include Google Home as well as Facebook Messenger and Amazon’s Alexa.

RoboChat is powered by IBM’s Watson cognitive computing platform.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags NABchatbotsGoogle HomeGoogle Assistant

More about AmazonFacebookGoogleHomeIBMMessengerNABUBank

Show Comments
[]