Omnichannel chatbot enhances customer-centricity

Founded on service and technology

Banco Bolivariano, based in Guayaquil, Ecuador, is one of that country’s leading financial institutions. For 41 years, its focus has been meeting the demands of its customers, which means implementing the best practices of its market and industry.

Its contact center has played a key role in this customer-centric strategy for more than 20 years. Banco Bolivariano adopted its first Genesys solution in 2006, when the challenge was integrating disparate solutions into a single platform.

The innovation continued in 2013 when the bank worked with Genesys and its partner Hightelecom to migrate from TDM to SIP.

Giving customers omnichannel service

With an increase in recurring queries for information available on its website, in its branches and on digital channels, Banco Bolivariano identified a growing need: allowing customers to get this information from wherever they are — quickly and easily.

“Our search was focused on offering our clients an omnichannel service — differentiated, simple, agile and decisive — when the client requires it and through the channels of habitual use,” said Karina Armijos Estrada, Physical Channel Manager at Banco Bolivariano.

When the customer service team analyzed the chatbots of competitors in Ecuador and surrounding countries, it found the bots didn’t offer omnichannel capabilities. The chatbots couldn’t forward an interaction to an agent, either. During its vendor evaluation process, Banco Bolivariano made one requirement very clear: If the virtual agent forwarded a call or chat interaction, it must provide an agent with the full content of that conversation.

This need for a transparent context proved to be a challenge for vendors. Aivo understood the requirement and, with its partner Hightelecom, solved it using Genesys.

Rising chatbot interactions — and popularity

The chatbot, Avi24, went live in 2018 on two channels: Facebook Messenger and the bank’s website. WhatsApp was added in the second phase, which launched in 2019. Phase 2 also included integrations that enabled self-service to debit and credit cards, as well as checking account inquiries.

Quickly, interactions grew until the bot became the most bank’s frequently used communications tool.

Today, the bot helps consumers with a wide variety of routine requests. When a customer makes an inquiry involving sensitive information, they must register, accept terms and conditions and complete an authentication using a temporary code.

If Avi24 doesn’t recognize a question or the way in which it’s asked, the interaction is forwarded to an agent via chat or call — the customer chooses the channel. An agent gains the entire context of the conversation leading up to the hand-off.

“The way Genesys managed this project was very helpful and responsive. It allowed us to make a series of complex integrations, and their team was always very eager to help us to reach this omnichannel integrated contact center, which is what we were looking for,” said Elsy Mora Morales, Head of Contact Center at Banco Bolivariano.

Impacting satisfaction and service standards

When Avi24 became available on WhatsApp, the messaging app became one of the bank’s most used channels. Today, 28% of Banco Bolivariano customers regularly use WhatsApp for their banking interactions.

The chatbot now averages 70,000 monthly sessions, with only 3% of interactions forwarded to agents. In these cases, the Bank achieves 97% customer satisfaction — confirming its bot integration strategy.

Banco Bolivariano has also dramatically improved its speed of service. Before Avi24, its contact center handled 65% of interactions within 20 seconds. Once the virtual assistant was deployed, this improved to 82% — with the same number of agents and an even larger customer base.

“Avi24 has become one of the main icons of the bank. The integration with the advisor has been well received — the ease with which the customer can write or call us wherever they are,” said Mora Morales.

“It was really hard work, but it turned out the way we wanted,” said Marlene Burbano Sotomayor, Supervisor Inbound Contact Center at Banco Bolivariano. “Customer satisfaction is priceless to us; it is what gives meaning to the work we do every day.”