“The Monetary Authority of Singapore and a host of industry players have released an open-source toolkit to help financial institutions use artificial intelligence ethically and responsibly. Singapore’s government outlined plans to develop a governance programme around the use of AI back in 2018 as it sought to grapple with the consequences of the rapid rise of the technology in the financial services industry.”

“Fintech and big technology companies could outpace traditional banks in the race to develop AI tools that help personalize services, evaluate credit risk and more, analysts and industry executives say. While that could fuel new partnerships in banking, it also could lead to increased competition that eats into the business of more established financial institutions, industry observers said during a panel discussion this week.”

“When it comes to banking, technology is helping people manage their finances when, where, and how they want. The bar has been raised when it comes to how fast consumers expect to be able to connect with their accounts, make transactions, and move on with their day. As TD looks for new ways to connect with its customer base that now spans over 25 million customers across North America, the Bank is making a big bet on personalization. Central to TD’s strategy is harnessing the power of data and artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalized and connected experiences for its customers — experiences that are extending well beyond traditional notions of banking.”

“Detroit-based Ally—formerly GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors Co.—has an online bank with no physical branches. The company offers mortgages, auto loans and investment tools… The company is using AI technologies such as Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa for voice-enabled online banking and biometrics for customers to log into the mobile banking app.”

“It turns out that a lot of people will avoid picking up the phone to reschedule things, even if it means being a no-show for an upcoming haircut or nail appointment.   For that reason, Square is now letting business owners automate the rescheduling process with a chatbot called Square Assistant. Business owners that are using Square’s existing Appointments service can now confirm appointments with customers—or let them cancel or reschedule them—via text message, without any human involvement. It’s the first product to come from Square’s acquisition of conversational AI startup Eloquent Labs earlier this year .”

“The concept got a push from Amazon Go stores, which Amazon.com Inc. launched in early 2018 ; there are now 15 stores, with two opening last week, in New York and San Francisco. Amazon Go relies on hundreds of cameras and sensors in each store to identify products that customers take off the shelves. Shoppers typically scan a code to enter the stores.”

“Visa Inc. is rolling out a platform to help its engineers quickly test advanced artificial-intelligence algorithms aimed at detecting and preventing credit-card fraud. The platform, built in house and slated to be launched later this year, is an example of the broader financial-services industry trend of using AI to detect patterns in transactions that could signal criminal behavior. The platform is cloud-based, meaning that Visa’s researchers and engineers can access it online from anywhere.”

“In an era of widespread automation, it’s hard to believe manual data entry still constitutes a sizeable chunk of employees’ chores. According to a recent Salesforce survey , people at small and medium-sized businesses spend 23% of their workday manually inputting data. Another study — this one conducted by SoftwareAdvice.com — found the time sink to be particularly acute in sales, where around 71% of reps say they copy data by hand each day. While a silver bullet remains elusive, San Francisco-based Bill.com believes its new AI suite, which formally launches today after a lengthy pilot, will eliminate manual entry in at least one domain: payments. The company today took the wraps off the Intelligent Business Payments Platform, an end-to-end financial workflow automation toolset designed to streamline payment processes for Bill.com’s more than 3 million members.”

Today, Mastercard announced a partnership with ZIVELO, a leader in self-service kiosk technology, to enhance the drive-in and drive-through ordering experience for quick service restaurants (QSRs) with a first-of-its-kind AI-powered voice assistant and personalized dynamic menu. Sonic Drive-In will be the first partner to pilot the new experience at selected Sonic locations in the U.S. this year. The technology will first be showcased at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago from May 18-21, 2019.

“So the counter-narrative I want to offer to the mainstream, front page accounts is that with careful, thoughtful, empathic design, we can enable ourselves to live longer, safer lives. We can create jobs where we are doing more creative work. We can understand each other better.But before I get to the many, many examples of where this is already happening today, let me share what’s happening in the AI ecosystem more broadly.”

“Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, launched its innovative payment-enabled chatbot, which uses natural language processing (NLP) from IBM Watson to create a smooth customer experience. Watson capabilities allow Ingenico’s chatbot to better understand users’ requests once they have been inputted, whatever they may be. It can better interpret nuances in language and phrasing, handling natural variations in the way individuals communicate. As a result, the bot can respond quickly and effectively, enabling it to meet each user’s specific needs in a wide range of different languages. “

“Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities for businesses in the world of healthcare, IT and manufacturing – and now retail is catching up by using AI in payments to make it easier for us to part with our hard-earned cash. The power of machines is being used by the likes of Amazon and Mastercard to streamline payments through instant verification and voice recognition.”

“LivePerson, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPSN), a leading provider of conversational commerce solutions, today launched Maven, a conversational AI that enables brands to replace traditional websites and 800-numbers with personalized conversations over SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Google RCS Business Messaging, Amazon Alexa, and other popular messengers and voice assistants.”

“US regulators have promised not to penalise banks that use artificial intelligence tools to spot gaps in existing anti-money laundering programmes, paving the way for the use of new technologies to tackle illicit financial activity.”

“Artificial intelligence is a critical aspect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and has emerged as a clear focus of discussions at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting over the past few years. Financial institutions around the world are making large-scale investments in AI, while governments and regulators seek to grapple with the significant uncertainties and growing public trepidation as AI becomes central to the fabric of institutions and markets.”

“NatWest claims to have saved its corporate clients over £7 million through the use of a purpose-built system to detect and prevent invoice redirection fraud – where businesses are duped into paying money into a fraudster’s account rather than to their intended supplier.Vocalink Analytics and NatWest worked together to develop, test and launch Corporate Fraud Insights, which uses AI and machine-learning techniques to identify and flag suspicious non-real time payments. “