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Banco Bolivariano, one of the most important financial entities in Ecuador, provides immediate, 24/7, and omnichannel banking assistance. With Avi24, their conversational chatbot, customers can do transactions in a few clicks through web chat, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Thanks to its problem-solving service, Banco Bolivariano was featured as Best Transactional Experience in Aivo Awards. To better understand their experience throughout 2020, Martín Frascaroli, CEO of Aivo, spoke with Kyra Arcia Marcano (Innovation and Marketing Manager) and Ronald Romero (Virtual Channels Manager). Here are key points from their conversation.
Avi24, the center of an ecosystem
What's the primary strategy at Banco Bolivariano today?
We've taken on a customer-centric strategy. It might sound trite, but we've really set out to put a customer-centric strategy into action.
Mainly, we've adopted the philosophy of providing a frictionless customer journey; looking for the best, shortest and easiest interaction, and really responding to what the customer wants.
What are the active technologies and channels for the customer?
We've built a system that can come alongside the customer and make their transactions the way they want, when they want.
This way we have a complete package with all the channels the modern consumer needs: online banking, mobile banking, chatbot, Genesys IVR, and cash management. Most of them are in the cloud.
Aivo's conversational bot, together with Genesys' platform, provides an omnichannel experience that we built aiming for uninterrupted navigation. Conversations start on Avi24 and can continue seamlessly at the contact center.
Related article: Banco Bolivariano achieves a 4x increase in online conversations with customers
Do you think you were prepared for the pandemic, or did you have to make adaptations for a new way of interacting?
I don't think anyone was prepared for a pandemic, nobody could foresee a situation like this. We were taken by surprise, but we had a lot of resources and the willingness to immediately solve the challenges facing us.
For example, we fully enabled remote work, which was vital in keeping teams active. With help from Genesys, we set up the contact center remotely in 15 days. Not only were we able to provide uninterrupted service, but we even extended our hours.
We also uploaded information to Avi24 in terms of new customer questions. We gave it access to all the microsites we set up with information that customers required. Today the bot has a really good NPS customer rating.
Ultimately, working with agile methodologies let us take that step and replace priorities that we had up until now.
Will WhatsApp continue being the preferred channel for users?
Absolutely. Since we implemented this channel, it quickly reached 60% usage; almost all conversations are happening there. It's a natural environment for the customer.
We were the first bank with a verified WhatsApp account to give the customer security. Our focus isn't asking the customer to change their habits, but getting into their world, and WhatsApp is part of everyone's daily life. It's part of the natural communication ecosystem.
What transactions can be done through Avi24?
Avi24 is divided into two parts. First, there's the typical knowledge base with answers to questions like "How do I unlock my virtual key?" or "How do I activate the virtual key to make transactions?". These are answers that give instructions for solving a problem.
The other part of the bot deals with integrating into the bank's systems. For example, current balance, account transactions, international card use activation, etc. The bot has those two worlds, one for customer support and the other transactional.
Avi24's philosophy is to be the center of an ecosystem, working with other platforms and bridging services between all of them.
Have you seen Aivo Awards' 2020 featured clients?
If you haven't already, you can check out the full list of featured clients in Aivo Awards and discover the story behind their conversational bots. Or, if you'd like to implement our technology in your customer service strategy, please don't hesitate to schedule a call with one of our representatives.
