Where South African banks are underperforming: AI-powered robo-advisory

Over the last couple of years, the digital transformation agenda has been driven aggressively by all major banks, and the hard work has paid off. According to Oliver Wyman’s Digital Banking Index, the South African banking sector now ranks second in its digital capabilities worldwide, surpassed only by Singapore.

Where South African banks underperform, according to Wyman, is in the robo-advisory category, which means “providing automated financial advisory with little to no human intervention.” 

All major banks still see human advisory as a strategic objective when it comes to nurturing stronger customer relationships. But, as Wyman points out, Millennials and Gen Zs now expect a seamless omnichannel experience and prefer to find the answers to most of their banking-related questions online. And they’re not alone: According to a 2022 research study conducted by Discovery Bank and the Boston Consulting Group, “86% of South Africans are ready to do all of their banking digitally.” 

This shows the urgent need for banks to start prioritising robo-advisory and to explore how new technologies can add more value for their clients in this space. 

Whoever successfully implements this first will meet the digital needs of today’s consumers thus differentiating themselves from the competition.

The banking sector in the United States of America is making considerable efforts to implement tools and technologies that make robo-advisory more human-centric, and here banks like First Financial and People’s United Bank, are leading the way. 

“There seems to be a gap when it comes to offering human-centric digital experiences in the financial space.”, says Joe Minham, digital product manager at First Financial. "We are investing in tools and talent that help us collect and analyse data so that we can invest in meaningful functionality and craft more relevant communication that encourages interaction and goal achievement. I think we're going to see that trend, not just at First Financial, but across the industry.”

Let’s look at the tools and talent these banks are investing in. 

Intelligent site search for websites and apps 

Combing through a website to find information has become counter-intuitive for most customers and it’s understandable why. We’ve all become accustomed to the intelligent search experience offered by platforms like Google. Even social media platforms have adopted this approach to improve their user journey. 

Intelligent site search solutions like Yext Search now enable banks to offer an exceptional search experience on their websites. This state-of-the-art AI-powered tool understands natural language questions and returns direct answers − not just links. It delivers a true "ask me anything" experience with multiple algorithms providing relevant results, from rich snippets and professional profiles, to FAQs, maps, and more. Easily implemented on a bank’s website and app, Yext Search empowers banks to efficiently address customer inquiries.

With Yext, you have full control over the answers generated: They are fed by a Knowledge Graph which pulls its replies directly from your website, but answers can also be added manually. This means financial advisory experts could feed it the answers to their most common questions. 

"Before Yext, we had a very basic, out-of-the-box search experience. Now, our website has encountered a significant increase in search volume and instances of one-stop searches where people are actually finding what they're looking for on the first try.", says James Roy, head of digital for People's United Bank.

People’s United Bank has implemented Yext Search and achieved a 70% reduction in unnecessary support calls to its call centre.

Best of all, it records all search queries, even the questions it cannot answer, giving you valuable business insights that can inform everything from your content strategy to product development. 

"Not only does our Site Search experience function as a navigational utility element, but it also helps us gain new user intelligence,” says Joe Minham from First Financial. “We can see the queries people are asking, which helps influence business decisions and identify missed opportunities. We learn about subjects of interest that weren't necessarily on our radar as a priority. Search is about more than just navigation. Search is client intelligence."

Yext also has a solution called Yext Chat, which can power chatbots, transforming the digital experience from a manually run or basic question-and-answer tool into an information-rich, natural dialogue experience for customers.

Phase 2 of the Digital Transformation Agenda

Having the technology is a good start, but without proper implementation, consistent management, and the right strategic approach you will not reap the benefits or unlock its full potential.

This is where Sauce Advertising comes in. We have been the preferred partner of Yext in Southern Africa for the past 6 years. We’ve successfully implemented Yext’s offerings for Africa's largest restaurant franchisor, Famous Brands, managing over 2,700 digital touchpoints across 10 countries. 

“The way in which Sauce implements, manages, and drives Yext technology is truly world-class. They’re always finding innovative ways to utilise our offerings and bring more value to their clients,” says Nico Beukes, managing director at Yext.     

What sets us apart is our insights-led SEM strategies:

“We utilise Yext's robust analytical capabilities and a range of other insights tools to understand which keywords are the most common in Google search queries related to a client’s service, which products are associated with those keywords, and why the algorithm surfaces the products it does.”, says Leloko Kamele, Sauce’s lead digital strategist. “This allows us to identify new content opportunities around all of the queries customers have and ensures that when Yext Search is launched on a client’s website, they are able to offer an information-rich robo-advisory experience from the get-go.”