Westpac NZ is the first major company in New Zealand to introduce a Microsoft platform with built-in AI to help employees have better conversations with customers and reduce contact centre wait times.
Last week, Westpac began rolling out the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) platform. When a customer calls the bank, the AI component of CCaaS will support the customer service representative by automatically providing the customer's relevant banking profile as well as information about any products they might ask about in real time. All Westpac's contact centres are New Zealand based.
The announcement comes as new research from the bank shows general support for AI being used to improve banking services.
In a nationally-representative survey of 529 people, conducted by research platform Ideally, 65% of respondents said they were comfortable or neutral about the idea of their bank using AI to help contact centre employees provide quicker responses to their questions (45% comfortable; 20% neutral), while 70% were comfortable or neutral about AI being used to help detect fraud and scams (49% comfortable; 21% neutral).
Russell Jones, Westpac NZ Chief Information Officer, says introducing the new technology is a significant step.
"We're really excited to be the first bank in New Zealand, as well as one of the first in the world, to introduce CCaaS," Mr Jones says.
"We're also really pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Microsoft developers from across the world on the implementation of CCaaS in our business, meaning it's been configured specifically for Westpac's needs.
