Southeast Asia’s largest bank is rolling out an AI chatbot for its corporate clients, giving “round-the-block” access for customer care needs.
TL;DR
- DBS launches generative AI chatbot, DBS Joy, for corporate clients in Southeast Asia.
- The AI chatbot has handled over 120,000 chats, reducing wait times and increasing satisfaction.
- DBS Joy aims to empower SMEs by providing instant answers and connecting clients to specialists.
- DBS is expanding AI integration across operations, including fraud detection and credit assessments.
A pilot version of the generative AI-powered chatbot, named DBS Joy, was rolled out in February. It has since managed over 120,000 unique chats, DBS claimed in a statement. The virtual assistant also cut waiting times, and customer satisfaction scores rose by 23%. The bank’s virtual assistant was first rolled out in 2018, under the same name.
The new AI-enhanced chatbot provides instant answers to clients’ frequently asked questions, and connects them with a customer service specialist if they have more complex requests.
DBS executives said Joy’s upgrade was part of its commitment to empower small- and medium-sized enterprises, a majority of the 4,000 corporate clients using the program.
The bank added that its customer care workers are equipped with a digital co-pilot to help provide more tailored support to clients. The assistant “reduced employees’ effort and allows them to focus on work that involved human judgment to address client needs,” said Welson Jamin, group head of operations at DBS.
DBS embraces AI
DBS Joy, an AI-driven initiative, represents the bank's newest effort—ranking seventh on Coins2Day’s Southeast Asia 500 ranking—to integrate artificial intelligence into its operational processes.
DBS CEO Tan Su Shan, who ranks first on Coins2Day’ s Most Powerful Women in Asia ranking, has consistently advocated for the widespread use of AI.
In an October interview with Coins2Day, Tan called AI an “upgrade,” noting that “you don’t have to think about mundane questions. You can begin contemplating beneficial concepts for patrons.
DBS is presently employing AI for functions such as identifying fraud, conducting algorithmic credit assessments, and facilitating employee development.
DBS is presently limiting its Joy chatbot's availability to its domestic market, Singapore, though the financial institution intends to gradually introduce the service in other key markets such as Hong Kong and India.
Artificial intelligence has been incorporated into the operations of other Asian financial institutions, including OCBC. OCBC introduced an an internal Gen AI chatbot for its 30,000 employees worldwide in 2023. And in May, it rolled out OCBC Markets Watch, a WhatsApp chatbot providing financial insights for business banking customers.