Banks and GenAI: Who Needs Humans Anyway?
Once GenAI is ubiquitous will humans be the "enduring edge?"
Visa talks AI and banking in a report that asks a brilliant question only to suggest that GenAI be used to cut people and costs.
The brilliant question is: Will generative AI provide an enduring edge to financial services providers, or become a commoditized ‘table-stakes’ feature?
That is a great question, and the answer is that if GenAI is ubiquitous, you have to offer more. More usually means personal service, and that means people, not more AIs.
Where this report shines and drips in irony is in Visa calls underexplored areas!
👉TAKEAWAYS (my comments in italics)
🔹Unbanked / Underbanked Financial Services
Here Visa looks at the underbanked whom it acknowledges need human interaction and suggests: If machine learning can be leveraged to better assess creditworthiness or verify identity...it could actually improve these banks’ regulatory compliance while expanding access to credit.
🔥Visa admits that most of the underbanked need human services and branches. So Visa’s solution of smarter AI won’t help those in need. Not that big data underwriting is bad, it isn’t, but Visa states clearly that this group lacks technology. So this is not a solution.
🔹Retail Customer Interaction and Escalations
Chatbots currently handle simple Level 1 (L1) support functions. As banks train their chatbots on real L2 and L3 customer service interactions, Gen AI will be able to progressively chip away at more support functions.
It’s great to see that Visa thinks the best use of a smarter GenAI is to lay off even more customer service people. Calling this a “massive opportunity” for banks makes it sound like they can’t wait to fire well-trained L2 and L3 support people. Short-sighted?
🔹Internal Process Optimization
Higher-level business practices such as internal consulting, people management, cost-cutting at banks, strategic planning, and product roadmapping, have not yet become the focus of AI. It is probably only a matter of time until internal consulting and strategy projects are significantly augmented or entirely provided by AI.
Great to see that Visa thinks that people management should be farmed off to GenAI! How humane and inspiring! I mean, how could any bank avoid such big cost savings?
👊STRAIGHT TALK👊
I have a hard time with this report as it calls for mass human layoffs while pondering if AI will grant banks an “enduring edge” when AI becomes the norm.
The irony is that Visa suggests firing high-level customer support and internal consultants as GenAI gets smarter. Still, it is these people who are most likely to make the bank enduring.
Visa would seem more short-sighted than most in its quest for cost savings at the expense of human jobs.
So go ahead get rid of the humans.
What’s left?
Thoughts?
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Thanks Rich - so many questions!
I was at an incredible AI Summit the past 2 days and it made be super optimistic about the potential for Human-AI collaboration to build a better future for all.
(Of course they are many potential downsides- but great to hear about what folks are working on)