AFRICA
REGIONAL CHANNELS
AFRICA
Absa Regional Operations has selected KAI to deliver new and impressive digital banking experiences as a cornerstone of its consumer digital strategy . Kasisto and Blue Turtle will assist ARO as partners .
ABSA SELECTS KAI TO DELIVER
DIGITAL
EXPERIENCES
TO ITS CUSTOMERS
Kasisto , creators of KAI , the leading
digital experience platform for the financial services industry , and Blue Turtle Technologies ( Blue Turtle ), one of South Africa ’ s leading enterprise technology partners , have announced that Absa Group Limited ’ s subsidiaries outside of South Africa , collectively known as Absa Regional Operations ( ARO ), have selected and deployed KAI , Africa ’ s first Conversational AI powered virtual banking assistant .
ARO chose to partner with Kasisto and Blue Turtle based on KAI ’ s proven Conversational AI technology and Blue Turtle ’ s ability to assist Absa to plan , implement and transform its customer digital experience strategy .
Absa ’ s virtual assistant helps customers in its African markets with their day-to-day banking needs and questions . Customers can find out information about Absa ’ s banking services , account information , the nearest ATM , information about new products and services , what types of services require them to come into a branch , how to access mobile wallet and more , all through intuitive and intelligent digital conversations directly via the virtual assistant .
Together we are providing Absa customers a more personalised , digital banking experience that no other bank in the region can offer .”
The virtual assistant becomes more intelligent over time . In the near future , the bank plans to offer transaction enquiries , transfers and full payment fulfilment over chat . For added accessibility and ease-ofuse , Absa ’ s virtual assistant will be available over the company ’ s website as well as a fully secure WhatsApp business account .
“ At Absa we believe in helping our customers bring their possibilities to life . So , when we set out on the journey to improve our customers ’ digital banking experiences we knew we needed a Conversational AI technology that was proven and a partner that was local . The partnership between Kasisto and Blue Turtle provided just that ,” said Vimal Kumar , ARO Chief Executive for Retail and Business Banking , Digital and Customer Experience . “ Together we are providing Absa customers a more personalised , digital banking experience that no other bank in the region can offer .”
With close to US $ 100 billion in assets , approximately 40,000 employees and presence in 12 countries across Africa , Absa is a top player on the continent . Many in the market look to Absa for leadership and innovation .
“ Everyone at Kasisto is excited to help power Absa ’ s mission with a virtual assistant that is trained on tens of millions of financial questions and that allows Absa to deliver important self-service and financial wellness capabilities and industry-leading digital experiences to its customers within Africa – this is an important market for us ,” said Zor Gorelov , CEO and Co-Founder , Kasisto .
“ We are also delighted to be working with our partners at Blue Turtle who bring local technical expertise and know-how as we all work together to enable ARO to leverage the power of Conversational AI .”
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