Independent Banker - November 2019 - 48

T
aking a page out of the
show Black Mirror,
coverage of today's
technology paints a picture
of a near-term future where
robots powered by artifi cial
intelligence overtake the
human workplace and insert themselves
into every element of daily life.
While machine learning and artifi cial
intelligence, better known as AI, are
indeed being applied in business
technology, they aren't necessarily a
prelude to a dystopian future. Instead,
businesses-community banks included-
can use this technology to augment jobs
rather than replace them. AI could even
improve the customer experience.
Indeed, a PwC study shows that 52%
of fi nancial services industry executives
are currently making " substantial "
investments in AI, and 72% of business
decision-makers believe AI will be
the business advantage of the future.
Matthew M. Speare, the executive vice
president and chief information offi cer
of $4 billion-asset Carter Bank & Trust
in Martinsville, Va., says his community
bank is leveraging this technology to
" We act like every
idea has to be taken
to scale, when
really we need to
adopt a culture of
experimentation. "
-Marc Butterfi eld,
First National Bank
of Omaha
48 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2019
create an enhanced customer experience
and drive down costs on the back end.
" With the robotic process automation [of
AI], it can help a bank be more nimble
and defensible, " Speare adds.
The aggregate potential cost savings
for banks from AI-based applications is
estimated at $447 billion by 2023, with
the front and middle offi ce accounting
for $416 billion of that, according to
Business Insider Intelligence. Eight out of
10 banks are highly aware of the potential
benefi ts presented by AI, according to an
OpenText survey of fi nancial services
professionals. In fact, three-quarters
of banks with more than $100 billion
in assets are currently implementing
solutions enabled by AI, while nearly
half, or 46%, of banks with less than
$100 billion in assets are doing so,
according to a UBS Evidence Lab report.
AI-based solutions have already gained
a footing in banking with chatbots and
payments fraud detection. Banks are
also realizing they can use AI to create
stronger connections with customers
and third parties alike. Carter Bank &
Trust has been using this technology
in its unsecured consumer lending
to support discovery and lead to
" intelligent automation. "
" With machine learning on the back
end, as a bank, we didn't want to have 30
people doing data entry, " Speare says. " In
the machine learning space, to massage
data and pull from multiple sources and
put into the systems we needed it to go
into, that helped. "
Carter Bank & Trust hasn't
implemented AI technology in customerfacing
applications, such as online
chatbots, but it does rely on AI for its
internal operations. Speare points out
there are potential applications for
supporting Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and
anti-money laundering (AML) eff orts at a
community bank. For example, the bank
is using machine learning with its regular
Independent Banker - November 2019

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