Amar Bank Develops Intelligence Banking to Continue to Improve Digital Financial Services

Application intelligence banking by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology or artificial intelligence in today's banking services has become a new trend that was born from digital penetration that is rapidly developing in society. The application of AI technology can boost banking revenue through increased personalization of services to customers and employees. Therefore, the application of AI has great benefits for the banking industry in Indonesia. Especially in the digital era like today, where banks are required to provide fast and practical services.

In Indonesia, the demand for digital banking services is increasing along with the growth in the number of active internet users in 2020 which reached 175,4 million people or 64% of Indonesia's total population.¹ The COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated banking services to adopt digital technology. In the first few months of the pandemic, use online mobile banking domestic production has increased by about 20% to 50%.² With the increasing demand for these digital services, banks are expected to be able to provide services that are faster, easier, more practical, at affordable costs, and easy to access anywhere and anytime.

"The digital era has changed people's habits in accessing banking services. A research shows that 40% of respondents prefer online banking transactions and 42% would also prefer to use mobile banking compared to 8% who said no.² The data shows that in today's digital era, most customers prefer to use digital platforms for more accessible banking services. What's more, the application of AI technology will provide many benefits for customers and banks," said Chief Technology Officer Amar Bank, Kevin Kane at the 2021 MarkPlus Conference event.

According to data from McKinsey & Company, there are several advantages to using AI in banking services. First, increase revenue through increased personalization of services to customers and employees. Second, reduce expenses through the efficiency of automation technology, reduce error rates, and better utilization of resources. Finally, banks can seize new opportunities based on the data they have collected.²

Apart from AI, there are other infrastructure needed to support it intelligencebank, that is Clouds, Data, and Application Programming Interface (API). "By using cloud, the bank can increase the scalability and speed of computer engine who assist in the process of banking services. On the other hand, the data of a customer in banking services is sometimes separated. If data can be integrated in one place, data management and banking marketing activities will be more targeted. Meanwhile, API integration is also needed to help data availability and provision end-to-end services to customers,” added Kevin Kane.

Intelligence banking is digital banking powered by artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to provide an easy, smart and personalized banking experience. Economic and digital banking observer from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara is of the opinion that the current digital banking is more in the nature of providing digitalized banking services. To meet customer expectations that continue to increase and remain competitive in the digital era full of technological sophistication, banks that prioritize AI technology will be able to provide intelligent services and experiences. (intelligent), personalized according to the behavior and needs of customers, as well omnichannel which is more seamless pattern produce more relevant products and services. Therefore, fore intelligence banking will be the future for banking services, because it utilizes new technology as a form of service to customers.

"Through a banking application with AI technology can provide many benefits for customers and also increase customer experience, such as understanding customer spending patterns, getting the convenience and security of making payments in transactions, analyzing customers' financial health, getting solutions and advice in daily financial management both for saving and investing, and being able to get a view of the savings and investment portfolio and the benefits to be gained . These various benefits will certainly be able to support financial management and a better lifestyle. In addition, by adopting digital technology and AI, it will make it easier for conventional banking to run services such as those already run by applications owned by fintech companies. Research conducted in the Indonesian context states that the use of AI technology will also increase the level of innovation nationally by 57% in 2021.” said Bhima Yudhishthira.

Seeing the rapid development of digital technology and AI, PT Bank Amar Indonesia Tbk. (“Amar Bank”), as a technology company with a banking license and the first pure digital bank that focuses on developing digital-only banks in Indonesia, to continue to transform and develop following digitalization developments in order to serve the people of Indonesia. “Amar Bank is committed to innovation that changes customers' lives for the better. Departing from this commitment, Amar Bank has introduced the first digital loan in Indonesia through Tunaiku and recently launched a product innovation based on an AI-based mobile banking application, Senyumku,” said Kevin Kane.

My Tunai and Senyumku applications are here to be able to contribute to efforts to improve the lives of Indonesian people. The Tunaiku application prioritizes customer needs in developing products and features as well as providing financial access to people who have not been served or are underserved by banking or formal financial services. Meanwhile, the Senyumku application is the first mobile-only intelligent bank application in Indonesia that utilizes sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) to provide personalized banking services to customers and the public, especially millennials. My Smile is designed to help customers cultivate the habit of saving regularly, tracking expenses, and investing for the future.

"We believe that by utilizing big data and AI technology through these two products, it is hoped that we can help simplify the process of financial services while still prioritizing the principle of prudence, serving more people, and changing customers' lives for the better," concluded Kevin Kane.