Dive Brief:
- Bank of America’s digital channels are boosting customer engagement and, in turn, client spend, executives said on a second-quarter earnings call Tuesday.
- Active users of Erica, Bank of America’s chatbot, grew 23% year over year to 24.6 million.
- Such engagement is paying off, with digitally enabled sales accounting for 70% of total sales — up from 65% a year ago. “Digital engagement remains a clear differentiator,” the bank’s CFO, Alastair Borthwick, said on the earnings call.
Dive Insight:
Bank of America’s digital experience is deeply intertwined with its chatbot, Erica, which raised the stakes for virtual assistants and continues to boost engagement.
Erica drove 200 million interactions in the second quarter, about a 15% year-over-year increase, according to an earnings presentation.
Bank of America has grown its digital footprint, with about 80% of the bank’s households being active digital users.
The bank’s mobile app is consistently regarded highly by customers, most recently with the third-highest customer satisfaction among national banks in a J.D. Power assessment this spring.
That same assessment found that while only about 28% of customers of national banks and credit card apps use virtual assistants, their use is associated with higher satisfaction overall. That increases when customers perceive the tool as comprehensive.
Bank of America benefits from that correlation, as its chatbot Erica helps customers manage their accounts, finds answers to questions, connects customers to financial specialists and offers proactive insights.