BMO launches AI Agent Assist for credit-card contact centre

BMO has launched BMO AI Agent Assist, an internal tool for staff handling Canadian credit-card transaction calls at its Virtual Connect contact centre. The bank said the system is intended to cut the time required for eligible inquiries by 20% to 30% and automatically process about 40% of eligible credit-refund requests.

The announcement, made on November 6 in a BMO-paid press release carried by Yahoo Finance, applies to callers seeking help with credit-card transactions. BMO said its Virtual Connect centre receives more than 500,000 such calls from Canadian clients each year, with an average resolution time of 12 to 14 minutes.

Is BMO AI Agent Assist a customer-facing chatbot?

No. BMO described AI Agent Assist as a tool for its contact-centre employees rather than a service customers use directly. It is designed to present staff with transaction matches, relevant policy material and prepared case information while they deal with a client inquiry.

The bank said the system should reduce the need for employees to search across separate systems or place callers on hold. Client-service staff review the information generated by the tool, make the servicing decisions and remain accountable for those decisions, according to BMO.

What are BMO's targets for the tool?

BMO's figures are targets, rather than reported results. It said it aims to reduce handling time by 20% to 30% for eligible inquiries and to process roughly 40% of eligible credit-refund requests automatically. Where an inquiry qualifies, the bank said a customer could receive a credit on the same day.

The announcement does not say which requests meet the eligibility criteria, nor does it establish that all refunds will be automated or completed on the day of a call. The rollout is limited in the release to Canadian credit-card transaction inquiries received through Virtual Connect.

How will the contact-centre system work?

BMO described the approach as human-in-the-loop: software supports the employee's work, but does not take responsibility for the final service decision. In practice, the tool combines transaction matching, policy retrieval and case preparation for staff review, the bank said.

Greg Brown, BMO's head of enterprise AI transformation and chief digital officer for personal and business banking in Canada, said the bank was applying the technology to a high-volume service process with safeguards and employee accountability. Holly Jackson, head of Virtual Connect, said the system should give employees more time to address client needs.

BMO said it is building the capabilities behind AI Agent Assist for possible use in other client experiences and business processes. The work forms part of the bank's stated goal to generate more than $1bn in AI-enabled revenue growth, productivity improvements and operating efficiencies by 2030, a company target rather than a reported outcome.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.