Bank of America Upgrades EricaAssist with Generative AI, Cutting Average Call Times by Nearly a Minute
Bank of America Upgrades EricaAssist with Generative AI, Cutting Average Call Times by Nearly a Minute #
Bank of America has rolled out generative AI enhancements to EricaAssist, its employee-facing AI agent used by more than 18,000 customer service representatives, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender announced on Tuesday.
The upgraded tool now delivers contextual guidance to call-centre staff in under three seconds, surfacing real-time summaries and personalised recommendations without interrupting the flow of a conversation. The bank said the new capabilities have already reduced average call handling times by close to one minute per interaction.
EricaAssist works alongside employees as they speak with clients. When a call begins, it identifies the reason for the contact and surfaces relevant details, including a customer’s tenure with the bank, while allowing representatives to pose direct questions to the system mid-call. Before the upgrade, staff were required to manually search policies and procedures while simultaneously listening to customers.
“It’s really about helping our employees better serve the clients and do it more efficiently and effectively,” Ashley Ross, Bank of America’s head of consumer client experience and business transformation, said in an interview with Banking Dive. Tom Ellis, the bank’s chief information officer and head of consumer technology, said the new generative AI layer can “take that conversation, summarise what’s going on, and then make recommendations back” in real time, an area where he expects to see “tangible benefits” in both resolution time and overall customer experience.
The bank said it intends to extend EricaAssist’s generative AI capabilities to additional servicing scenarios and business lines before the end of the year. Bank of America spends approximately $14 billion annually on technology, with roughly $4 billion directed toward new initiatives, including artificial intelligence.
Other large US banks have also been deploying generative AI in contact centres, where the technology processes and summarises information quickly while human staff handle client interactions directly.
Copy link