A chatbot is a software program that facilitates interactions among humans and virtual assistants with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The AI integrated with chatbot offers security along with handling texts and other forms of inputs from multiple individuals, this allows the applications to be more intuitive and comfortable while chatting. The security it offers allows it to be utilized for banking transactions. The features AI offers aids in ease of access and security and these are the key factors driving adoption of chatbot in banking sector, thus, fuelling growth of the market. Also, chatbot that are integrated with multiple gadgets such as mobile devices, web browsers, and other applications, which help reduce customer efforts, are expected to improve analytical capabilities and enable automation by customizing voice and text. This is expected to increase productivity of the bank officials and reduce workforce that is otherwise required for customer service and phone banking. Banks are increasingly adopting the AI capabilities in the form of chatbot and are benefitting on account of aforementioned features.

Even though these chatbots are helpful for banking operations, these have certain privacy concerns, wherein incidences such as fraudulent access is possible. Also, the function of chatbots is more dependent on human for receiving an appropriate answers to the queries. These facts are anticipated to impede growth of the chatbots for banking market.

Proliferation of smart and connected devices is the major factor driving growth of the market

Rising adoption of smart devices, which includes smartphones and tablets, is expected to fuel growth of the chatbots for banking across the regions during the forecast period. Growing adoption of smartphones is allowing banks to automate various processes required for advertising, promotions, and providing informative messages to client with personalized and customized manner as per category of the client. This includes SMS & MMS, mobile web, mobile video & television, and several other channels.

Customers with simple and basic queries are dealt with by chatbots thereby, increasing productivity of the workforce. These chatbots are not subject to time and hence are available round the clock. Chatbots are capable of answering queries in multiple languages and thereby, help resolve queries effectively in suitable language of the customer. The AI capabilities incorporated in chatbots allows it to remember customer preferences and suggests products based on that history. It also learns from customers preferences and thereby fine-tunes the suggestions as per customers’ specific needs. This increases the effectiveness of targeted advertisements and cross sells.

Global chatbots for banking Market: Regional Insights

North America held a dominant position in the global chatbots for banking market in 2017, and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This growth is attributed to the region being early adopters of advanced technologies such as chatbots in banking. Furthermore, increasing number of banks in this region are focusing on adopting this technology. For instance, in March 2018 Bank of Montreal (BMO), announced rollout of two chatbots for Facebook messenger and Twitter. Additionally, if consumers are not comfortable with the idea of being answered by a chatbot, BMO offers the option for users to switch to a human customer services at any time during the call or chat. Also, adoption of chatbots in European region is gaining traction and banks are focusing on incorporating AI in their systems, In Germany, Deutsche Kreditbank AG collaborated with FinReach—a Berlin-based financial technology start-up—to develop 'Herbie', a chatbot designed to help people through loan application process.

Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit high growth in the global chatbots for banking market over the forecast period. This is owing to increasing support by governments in countries such as Singapore. Increasing government support and other factors have made Singapore as one of the top global fintech hubs. Investments in collaborative fintech companies have rose to 138% and the banks in the country have been increasingly focusing on adopting novel technologies to enhance their share. For instance, in November 2017 DBS redesigned its IT infrastructure and have made it more focused towards development of AI and chatbots to enhance banking experience for its customers. Therefore, these factors are expected to aid in growth of the region in the global market.

Global Chatbot for Banking Market: Competitive Background

Major players operating in the chatbot for banking market are Maruti Techlabs, Inbenta Technologies, Inc., Nuance Communications, Inc., Next IT Corporation, Kore.ai, Inc., CreativeVirtual, Pypestream, Nano Rep, Inc., Mindmeld, Inc. and Ubisend.

Global Artificial Intelligence in Chatbot Security Market: Taxonomy

On basis of type of chatbot,