In fall 2020, Bank of America launched an innovative digital experience to help clients take charge of their financial lives. Called Life Plan, the feature uses AI insights to create personalized options that help people set and track financial goals, and adjust them as their lives progress and change. Whether those goals involve family, health concerns, work life, leisure, or charity, Bank of America Life Plan® offers clients a road map to financial success—and quickly became the most successful digital launch in the bank’s history, with over three million users engaging in the first three months.
“If you look at the number around Life Plan,” says David Tyrie, Bank of America’s Chief Digital Officer and Head of Global Marketing, “those are some of our most satisfied clients. They have the highest retention rate, and their relationship with us grows substantially. It’s a clear example of Bank of America’s commitment to creating a better client experience—and of how we constantly invest in technology to achieve that.”
For years, banks have viewed customer service as the best way to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. According to a survey of marketing leaders, over 80 percent of organizations say their competitive advantage is their customer experience. Yet providing a superior experience in the digital banking world, which has boomed in recent years, can only be achieved by creating or adapting digital products and features that keep pace with changing habits. In other words, providing a better customer experience depends on constant improvement—and Bank of America has proven itself the rare firm committed to delivering client-focused innovations at scale.
Today, Bank of America serves one out of every two households in the United States. In 2021, the bank logged over ten billion client interactions, with nine billion of those on digital platforms. (Phone calls and in-person interactions make up the remaining.) Devising and implementing new features for a client base of this size is a monumental undertaking—and making all those people feel personally engaged is even harder.
“We have 67 million clients, and we want to be a one-stop shop for each of them,” says Tyrie. “But we have to personalize their experience too, so people can actually find what they’re looking for.”
To help with navigation on the mobile app, Bank of America combined predictive analytics with natural language processing to form Erica®, the most advanced AI-driven virtual financial assistant in the market today.
Despite its technological sophistication, Erica provides that simplest of solutions for clients—a better experience. The feature is an intuitive way for clients to get help navigating the app, whether they’re depositing a check, searching for past transactions, or applying for a credit card.
Every year, Bank of America releases 12 updates to its mobile and online offerings, with roughly 4,000 new enhancements to date. In 2021, the bank also recorded the most patents filed and granted in its history—a total of 804. Most were in the digital realm.
To help create new offerings, Bank of America operates more like a tech startup than a global corporation. Several times each year, a cross-section of employees on the tech and digital teams convene for an Innovation Summit, where anyone can pitch an idea and the best concepts get turned into working models. The products or features are judged again, often through beta testing, and the clear winners rolled out to Bank of America’s clients.
“Our approach to innovation is constant improvement,” says Tyrie. “We try to hire and create a culture of people who aspire to positive change and are committed to evolving in an incremental way. We sweat every detail, and that’s hard to compete with.”
One recent Innovation Summit creation is Security Meter, a visual gauge that enables clients to quickly assess their digital security threat level. The feature acts like an automobile dashboard, offering an easy snapshot of a client’s online risk, along with guidance for what they can do to improve their score—and to eliminate potential threats. A popular idea from the beginning, Security Meter moved quickly through internal testing and was fast-tracked for site-wide launch last year.
“It was a no-brainer,” says Tyrie. “The feature is an example of how we can use data insights to assess what a client’s needs are. These are insights they may not be able to articulate today, but when we come up with something, they see it and go, ‘Yeah, that was what I needed.’ ”
Security Meter racked up ten million visits in the first six months, making it one of the bank’s most successful launches.
Going forward, people will continue to migrate toward digital services. According to a 2021 report, half of banking executives believe that 20 percent or more of customers will use augmented or virtual reality as an alternative channel for daily transactions by 2030. And as these technologies are adopted, Bank of America will continue to invest in them—keeping the client experience front and center.
“What we want to create is an experience where you can interact with us any way you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want, and get the solution you need,” says Tyrie. “Our foundation is simple: make it easier, make it more convenient, and make it safer for our clients. If we do that, we can continue to earn their trust, now and into the future.”
This story was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Bank of America.
