Conversational AI At Capital One

Imagine having a human assistant to look after your money 24/7 and proactively find ways to save more and keep your money secure. It may sound like an impossible dream, but Capital One makes the same service available for its customers with a virtual assistant named Eno.

Capital One has always been a pioneer in conversational AI. It was the first financial company to launch an Alexa skill that allowed customers to check their balance with a voice command back in 2015. In 2016, it introduced Eno as a text bot. Now, the revamped Eno is more intelligent, responds to conversational text and voice commands and even makes proactive recommendations and alerts. If you made an unusual charge that could be fraud, paid an astronomical tip that's out of the norm or spent more in a certain area than normal one month, Eno will send you an alert. The bot not only reaches out, but also allows customers to quickly take action right within the channel instead of having to log on to a computer or call customer service.

The goal of Eno and Capital One's dedication to conversational AI is to remove friction and have real conversations with customers. Before Eno, Capital One had an SMS fraud alert system that would text customers to confirm or deny unusual charges. However, the company realized that half of the responses weren't confirmed or denied. Customers would respond with things other than the Y or N that the system recognized. They were interacting with the service, but not in a way that the machine recognized.

The move to conversational AI allows humans to talk as they normally would. Ken Dodelin, Capital One VP Conversational AI Product Development, says it's a move to teaching machines to talk like humans instead of the old method of trying to have humans talk like machines, which was ineffective and frustrating for everyone involved. Eno's conversational AI technology allows it to understand more than 99% of customer queries and responses—a major jump from 50% just a few years ago. Customer expectations are changing, and how brands design systems must also change.

Conversational AI isn't something to take lightly. When done well, like in the case of Capital One, it can be a major component of the company's overall strategy. Dodelin says it's important to have humility when designing the program. Customers don't always act how companies expect them to, which means teams have to be agile to find what best matches what customers will actually do.

Eno's proactive approach has resonated with customers and had a very positive reaction. Eno and Capital One show the power of conversational AI to build bridges and improve the customer experience. Dodelin says that no matter the company, the goal of AI should always be to be helpful. The right technology can create extremely helpful solutions for busy customers.