Soon it might be a robot that will provide financial advice and handle your application for a loan or a payment deferral, according to the financial industry. A robot is not able to exercise human judgment, the employees reply.
We have long since become accustomed to using online banking to pay bills, obtain new credit cards and a host of other things that we previously did with the help of other humans. But now there is a new digital revolution taking place inside the financial industry, according to Finance Norway, which organizes banks and insurance companies.
CEO Idar Kreutzer says we will soon get “learning computers” in Norwegian banks. They will answer your questions when you call the bank and will soon learn what is the correct answers and when it needs to put you through to a human being.
– As of today there are many people who need personal advice, who do not get it, because it is relatively expensive. In the future will see personal counseling being made available to many more people, Kreutzer says.
Talk to an avatar
He predicts that everybody will get their own “avatar,” a personal robot, which will contact you periodically. This can help you even when you are in a financial predicament .
– It is not unique that people have trouble paying loans. Then you can get digital help to determine your rights and find out about the solutions that are normally chosen, he says, but adds that you can ask to be put through to a human counselor if the solution does not suit you.
Kreutzer thinks that getting smarter computer programs will be an advantage for both customers and businesses.
– Everything is not going to be taken over by robots. But the human counselors will take the special and most challenging cases, he said.
Human judgment
The Finance Association, which organizes the bank employees see the benefits of computers taking care of standardized tasks. But union leader Paul Adrian Hellmann is still wary. He fears for the consequences for employment, and also believes that customers need people in the bank.
– I doubt that even the smartest robot will be able to identify you with all your needs. The evaluations and assesments that a bank employee like me can make, that kind of discernment and humanity is something I don’t think you can will be able to put into a machine, he said.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
