A Decade of AI Innovation: BofA's Virtual Assistant Erica Surpasses 3 Billion Client Interactions

Erica, the most widely adopted AI-driven virtual financial assistant, is a central gateway to serving clients – assisting nearly 50 million users since launch, surpassing 3 billion client interactions, and now averaging more than 58 million interactions per month. Launched in 2018, Erica is deepening relationships with clients and driving greater efficiencies throughout Bank of America. "Erica has been learning from our clients for many years, enabling us to leverage AI today at scale, globally," said Hari Gopalkrishnan, chief technology and information officer at Bank of America. "Our early and ongoing investments in AI demonstrate our commitment to delivering innovative experiences and value to clients." Clients have received and interacted with more than 1.7 billion proactive, personalized insights delivered by Erica. Some recent examples of how Erica is helping clients stay on top of their finances include:

• Highlighting BankAmeriDeals cash back deals for clients based on their spending.
• Alerting clients which way their balances are trending in the next 7 days.
• Notifying clients of their eligibility for Preferred Rewards, increasing the value of their relationship with the bank.
• Providing guidance on nearly 50 investment-related topics, allowing Merrill clients to engage with Erica when managing their banking, investment and retirement relationships.
• Scheduling an appointment via Erica, creating a seamless handoff to high-touch service channels.

"Our clients appreciate Erica's ability to help them manage their spending, improve budgeting and increase savings," said Nikki Katz, head of digital at Bank of America. "Erica is the bedrock upon which we've built an unmatched high-tech, high touch client experience." Clients have spent more than 18.7 million hours conversing with Erica. More than 98% of users find the information they need, significantly decreasing call center volume and allowing financial specialists to spend time focusing on more complex financial conversations with clients. Bank of America's data scientists have trained Erica to recognize and respond to millions of client questions using a library of more than 700 responses. The system has undergone over 75,000 updates since launch to continuously improve the client experience. Over the next year the bank will expand Erica's abilities further to offer more personalized insights to help clients know more about their finances. At Bank of America, AI capabilities are designed to be scalable and reusable across different areas. Erica is embedded today across the enterprise, assisting clients and employees and driving efficiencies in several areas, including within Merrill, Benefits OnLine, CashPro^®, and others. For example:

• ask MERRILL^® and ask PRIVATE BANK^® help wealth management teams efficiently curate information to deliver superior client experiences. With approximately 23 million interactions per year, these tools are also helping advisors and other employees more proactively connect with clients about timely and relevant opportunities.
• CashPro^® Chat, the virtual service advisor for the CashPro platform, helps business, commercial and corporate clients quickly view transactions, find information about accounts, and more. CashPro Chat is used by 65% of clients, with Erica handling greater than 40% of client interactions.
• Erica for Employees is used today by over 90% of Bank of America employees, with the virtual assistant having reduced calls into the IT service desk by 50%. The capabilities will expand this year to offer enhanced search and assistance across a broader set of topics – including answers to employee questions about Bank of America products and services.

Bank of America's approach to AI and proven use cases have earned the company several industry accolades. Most recently, the company was named the top U.S. consumer bank for use of AI by Global Finance magazine through its inaugural "AI in Finance" awards. Global Finance also named Erica the best chatbot/virtual assistant in the U.S. and North America.