Westpac pilots AI to analyse inbound call content

Westpac is piloting AI to help its scam and fraud support team process and analyse the information a customer is telling the bank about a potential incident.

The technology is designed to help operators “stop more scams, more quickly for customers”, Westpac said in a statement.

“The real-time call assistant technology is being integrated within the bank’s frontline customer service and operations platforms to aid bankers with customer interactions,” it said.

“The AI synthesises information from customer phone conversations in real-time to highlight key indicators enabling bankers to respond more effectively.”

CEO Anthony Miller said that inbound calls from potential victims can be complex, with many pieces, and also “very emotive with lots of information that our operators need to synthesise very quickly.”

“This AI tool is helping fill some of those gaps and is aiding our teams in real-time so they can more effectively respond,” Miller said.

Westpac said the AI provides live transcripts, alerts when key indicators are detected and prompts “to help reach an outcome more efficiently”.

“It can also help uncover instances where a scammer may be coaching a customer in the background,” the bank said.

Miller said the tool is promoting “deeper conversations” with customers “and getting results”.

The bank is also looking at how it might be able to reuse the tool elsewhere in its operations.