Citi Singapore launches Facebook Messenger chatbot

The chatbot can address a wide range of customer needs and everyday inquiries.

Citi Singapore has finally rolled out Citi Bot SG, the bank’s natural language chatbot on Facebook Messenger, to all consumer banking customers. The launch followed collaborative beta testing with 600 Citi customers and employees.

According to a statement, the bot, which was developed in Singapore, will soon see it being rolled out in other Citi markets around the world. Citi said, “Feedback from the Citi’s Beta Community enabled the bank to make progressive and incremental enhancements to its chatbot.”

The chatbot is able to address a range of customer needs, including account-specific enquiries such as checking of account balances and transactions, providing credit card bill summaries, rewards and points balances and answering frequently asked questions. “It responds in a manner that is personable, easy to understand and intuitive; user experience is similar to how a human conversation is conducted,” Citi said.

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Using Natural Language Processing, the Citi chatbot can address everyday questions, including real-time account and transaction information, rewards balances and more.

Citi Asia Pacific Consumer Banking head Anand Selva said, “Facebook Messenger is an exciting new way to access Citi and will greatly enhance our overall customer experience. In the Asia Pacific we have accelerated efforts to transform our Consumer Bank model from analogue to digital to be relevant to our clients in all our 17 markets with focused investments in digital for client-centric growth delivering simpler, relevant, personalized and digital client experiences.”

Citi noted that the rapid adoption of mobile and other digital channels has transformed how Citi’s clients bank, sign up for cards or loans, pay their bills or use the bank’s wealth management services. “Today, more than half Consumer Bank clients in the region use digital channels with mobile being the fastest growing channel year-on-year with Citi’s over 16 million clients in the Asia Pacific region,” the bank added.