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AI-led answers, empathy-led service
NatWest gets customers the information and support they need with generative AI
The importance of technology and innovation within the banking landscape can’t be ignored. Advances are being made every day, and customers increasingly demand highly personalised, efficient and engaging financial experiences. NatWest Group, a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom, recognises the need to stay at the forefront of this evolution and is now leading the way at the new frontier of digital customer experience.
Since the launch of its Cora digital assistant in 2017, AI—particularly IBM watsonx™ technology—has been a cornerstone of NatWest’s customer service strategy. And in the past year alone, this support channel successfully addressed nearly 11 million customer inquiries related to financial management. So, in 2024, NatWest wanted to further enhance the user experience, incorporating generative AI to deliver more nuanced answers and better anticipate customer needs.
“It’s really important for our customers to feel understood when they’re talking about something as sensitive and personal as money,” explains Wendy Redshaw, Chief Digital Information Officer for the retail division at NatWest. “Whether we do that as human being to human being, or whether we do it as digital being to human being, we have the same considerations—that the customer has to feel cared for and understood.”
Building off its current success, NatWest chose to work with IBM again to create the upgraded version of its virtual agent—Cora+.
Cora+ is a multichannel interaction platform that securely accesses vast data from multiple sources, including products, services and banking information. This expanded data access empowers the solution to provide customers with comprehensive and easily accessible knowledge, streamlining the process of getting help.
Powered by IBM® watsonx Assistant™ and built on IBM Cloud®, Cora+ delivers sophisticated, human-like interactions to customers across NatWest’s website, mobile app and social media platforms. And to create this updated solution, NatWest’s business and technology teams joined with the IBM Client Engineering staff to build an initial proof of concept, which was subsequently shifted to full production.
Moving beyond the capabilities of its predecessor, Cora+ isn’t just about providing access to information—it’s also about understanding customers. For example, when asked a question, Cora would previously direct the user to existing sites or content that addressed the specific subject. But using retrieval-augmented-generation (RAG) technology, Cora+ can take the natural language questions posed by users and proactively answer them within the chat—no further research needed.
NatWest also knew it was critical to prioritise the accuracy and relevance of these AI-generated responses, as incorrect information could quickly undermine trust and impact relationships with customers. To mitigate this risk, the bank teamed with IBM to establish robust governance guardrails focused on transparency, trust and accuracy in the underlying AI model.
The introduction of Cora+ marks a significant leap forward in customer interaction for NatWest. By being one of the first banks in the UK to leverage generative AI, the organisation can create a distinct competitive advantage by offering more personalised and responsive support to patrons.
“When we originally launched Cora+ we intended to do that as a 12-week experiment,” adds Miles Hillier, Product and Technology Director for AI at NatWest. “But we’ve decided to keep it going and to keep developing it because we’re seeing some pretty transformational outcomes being delivered through it—up to 150% improvement in satisfaction with some of the questions we’re answering. And I think that gives us real encouragement to move forward with the technology, working closely with our partners at IBM to really push the envelope on what’s possible with customer experience.”
Cora+ also improves the bank agent experience by summarising conversations and providing clear insights into customer needs and previous interactions. This capability enables agents to provide more targeted and efficient support.
A global banking leader, NatWest Group (link resides outside of ibm.com) offers personal, retail and commercial banking services to more than 19 million people, families and businesses. The group is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland with additional offices spread across the UK and Ireland.
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