NAB to give customers computerised advice

National Australia Bank will offer customers computer-generated financial advice through its online banking platform in an effort to cross-sell its products.

The 'NAB Prosper' online platform - which will launch this month - will provide free, generalised advice on superannuation and insurance. It will later include debt, cash flow, investments and estate planning advice.

Around 40,000 customers will be able to access the automated advice initially, but the bank plans to extend the offer to encompass its entire customer base over time.

NAB claims the platform is a first from a major bank.

The online platform will require customers to answer a number of questions on their circumstances before generating a personalised assessment based on their responses. 

It does not take into account a customer's full financial situation.

The aim of the platform is to provide enough information to a customer to prompt them to contact one of NAB's human financial advisors. The service won't recommend specific financial products.

NAB has been contacted for more detail.

The finance advice industry has been engulfed by scandal in recent times after a number of the big banks were forced to compensate customers millions for handing out poor advice.

The introduction of NAB Prosper forms part of CEO Andrew Thorburn's strategy to prioritise the build of systems that will provide an immediate and visible benefit to customers, rather than migrate customers off legacy systems under its long-running and expensive NextGen core systems overhaul.