BSP ‘chatbot’ ready to handle consumers’ complaints vs erring financial institutions

by Daxim L. Lucas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 19 Aug 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The central bank’s automated consumer concerns interface, that can be accessed via its website, text messaging or via social media, has gone “live” and can now be used for bringing complaints against financial institutions to regulators.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its “chatbot” called “BOB” — for BSP Online Buddy — has been pilot tested and is now fully deployed to serve Filipino financial consumers.

“Aside from enhancing BSP’s quality of service, BOB empowers financial consumers by giving them a more accessible channel for raising complaints,” BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said. “This is in line with BSP’s commitment to pursue innovations in financial services for the benefit of Filipinos.”

Managed by BSP’s Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy, the chatbot mainly provides BSP with an automated capability to handle complaints against financial institutions under its authority.

The chatbot can efficiently handle queries from consumers sent through the webchat on the BSP website, SMS, or via Facebook Messenger.

Previously, consumers with queries or complaints had to correspond with the central bank via email, postal mail, telephone calls, or even physical visits to the regulator’s offices.

The chatbot will make it easier for consumers to raise their issues with the regulator in real-time while maintaining safety protocols from their homes.

By using artificial intelligence and natural language processing, the system can respond to queries and complaints in English, Tagalog, or a combination of both.

With its ability to provide adequate responses and to automatically refer concerns to the BSP-supervised financial institutions concerned for action, the chatbot also enables the central bank to gain valuable insights into customer experiences and banking practices.

This, in turn, strengthens BSP’s consumer assistance mechanism, the regulator said.

The central bank encouraged financial consumers to use and take advantage of the technology in order to have an accessible, continuous, timely, and efficient platform for escalating their complaints against erring financial institutions.

With standard text messaging and internet data charges applying, BOB may be accessed through BSP webchat (http://www.bsp.gov.ph/), via Globe SMS to 21582277 (the service will also be made available for other network subscribers soon), and BSP’s Facebook page.