6. Place - Česká spořitelna
Česká spořitelna, the only bank with a male virtual assistant
The largest Czech bank in terms of client base underwent a major transformation over the past few years – from a traditional big bank into a brand that strives to improve clients’ financial health and embraces new technologies. Board member in charge of retail banking, Daniela Pešková, told us about the biggest challenges of the transformation and how artificial intelligence will make George, the virtual assistant, even better.
Name three things you think of when we say Česká spořitelna.
Support of clients’ financial well-being, large bank, prosperity of our country.
And what would you like clients to think of?
Financial well-being. It’s been a year and half since we launched a new strategy focused on financial health of our clients. Now, multiple large surveys show that our bank is the only one that people spontaneously associate with financial health. I’m very proud of that. In fact, financial health is now a stronger association than characteristics like “large, reliable, traditional bank” that were attributed to us over the past 30 years. It’s a key factor of our distinctiveness since most clients see only two bank types on the Czech market – the trustworthy ones, and the digital ones, “for the young”.
Results of Česká spořitelna in comparison to sector averages in Czechia
What motivated the change in positioning?
Just to clarify – brand positioning is not a goal here, it’s a tool within our strategy. Some seven or eight years ago, new banks entered the market and held a mirror to us. Back then, our NPS was -35. Customers would not recommend us, and our employees weren’t exactly proud of being our employees. Cracks were clearly visible, and we were trying to figure out a new direction for the company, but also for banking as a whole. We understood that the age of commodity banking was over, that we had to go back to the roots. To why Spořitelna was founded 200 years ago – to improve financial well-being of individuals and the whole nation’s prosperity through consulting. That’s what we had to do, while at the same time emphasizing digital banking and ensuring the same level of customer experience people are used to online, but without giving up on in-person consultancy. Our new positioning had to be different enough, but authentic. Our brand is 200 years old. Clients remember us as the only retail bank that was available during the socialist era, with products like bankbooks, Sporožiro account and loans for newlyweds that their parents and grandparents used. The change in positioning had to happen gradually, and it absolutely had to go hand in hand with a change in our business model. We had to move away from being a commodity bank focused on selling products and become a company focused on financial health of our clients. The last eight years were a fascinating journey. Our NPS improved by over 60 points, which is one of the biggest and fastest NPS improvements among Czech banks, and maybe even among all traditional Czech brands.
In an interview, you said that banks are turning into tech companies. Is that a difficult change?
The requirements in terms of transaction volume and security really do match the parameters of tech companies. We are now a software company of sorts. The most difficult part of the agile transformation was cooperation. We’ve put experts on business solutions in one room with IT teams – two very different types of people who need different things to do their job. IT experts, who currently make up one fifth of our staff, are often hired externally, so it’s hard to get them excited about our mission. Making sure we don’t spend too much time on features only a few “geeks” would appreciate instead of working on solutions that the majority of our clients could and would use was also a challenge.
How does Spořitelna use AI?
We’ve been experimenting with AI for many years now, implementing it widely during covid to automate approval of payment deferral requests. We also use AI to detect fraudulent payments in real time: our software uses properties of executed fraudulent transactions to improve its own detection patterns and to learn to recognize new patterns. And I must say that in many aspects, AI-created patterns are starting to outperform those created by humans. We have also created an HR system that evaluates the risk of our branch bankers leaving. In spring, we were one of the first large companies in Czechia to provide employees with premium ChatGPT subscriptions. Currently, we are also testing Copilot in MS Teams where it can summarize a meeting, asses its atmosphere and create a to-do list. We have 170 licenses now that we gradually pilot across the entire bank – we want it tested by as many people as possible to help us evaluate who will benefit from Copilot the most. So far, it has been most helpful in IT where it can assist with simple coding, and in support and service teams where it helps automate routine tasks like complaint processing.
What do you think is the greatest benefit of artificial intelligence for the customer experience?
Salesforce Copilot is what affects customer experience the most. It allows us to create extremely personalized advice and recommendations that are then delivered to clients through online communications – and AI is getting better and better at improving and adapting that advice to match the needs and profiles of individual customers in terms of content, but also in terms of when and how it is delivered.
Do you plan to implement AI into George, your virtual assistant?
We do, it will be live and ready to use next year already. The new ChatGPT-based chatbot will be able to provide customers with basic financial advice, though without data about their financial behaviour – at least at the beginning. Our goal is to eventually create a digital consultant capable of communicating with emotion and understanding that current chatbots don’t have yet. To do that, we work with behavioural experts who help us develop our digital consultancy. How the chatbot/consultant looks is also crucial, so we are now testing a digital persona that would eventually become George’s face and voice.
Since we’re on the topic – why George?
George was a code name that ended up staying. I think it was a good choice. By the way, did you know it’s inspired by aircraft pilots? That’s what they call an autopilot. But George is more than internet or mobile banking. It’s George. He has a name, and that creates an emotional response in people. Plus, most companies’ assistants are women – think Siri, Kate, or Alexa. We’re the only ones “employing” a man.
AI comes with a plethora of risks. How do you deal with them, as a business operating in a heavily regulated industry?
The level of responsibility that banks have in, say, investment consulting, is enormous. Of course, I can envision AI giving investment advice to our clients, helping them build an emergency fund or assisting with insurance. But I also know that for now, we are unable to accurately backtrack and trace AI’s decision-making process. And we are well aware of the risks associated with that. But in case of the heavily regulated investment consulting, it is the client who also accepts part of the risks associated with drop in stock and revenue loss. I believe that there is a place for AI in investment consulting, though it will definitely require further regulation.
How does your mission to support financial health manifest in social responsibility?
To me, it is our mission to improve financial health of our clients that is our key responsibility towards the society. It has been a part of us since the 19th century when Spořitelna decided to make financial services accessible to all people, regardless of their social status. It was a noble idea, but a pragmatic one too, designed to bring social peace and prosperity to both individuals and communities. Now, we embraced this idea again – which is why last year, we made a public promise to help all clients build at least a small emergency fund and make sure they are saving money for retirement. We are also committed to making financial education widely available both online and offline. Our community investment program plays a key role in fulfilling that commitment. Currently, we are working on a school program called “the ABC of money”. A thousand schools are involved right now, and we want to make it available to anyone starting from 2025.