1.
C H A T B O T P L A T F O R M S
Companies are choosing to deploy chat bots on platforms that
their customers & users prefer to be on. These include
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Chat bots are computer programs that
intelligently respond to human queries and
requests in an automated fashion. They can be
accessed using mobile devices, computers and
other devices like Amazon’s Echo speaker.
W H A T A R E C H A T B O T S ?
Many companies are deploying bots for user interactions that
previously required (human) employees. The main drivers are
R E S E A R C H C O V E R A G E
Payments companies, including card networks,
processors, payment aggregators, digital wallet
providers and payment apps.
Card issuers were NOT included in our survey.
25
Popular mobile, messaging & social platforms that
enable deployment of chat bots6
Chat bots that are available to users in the US
W H A T T H E F U T U R E H O L D S
F I N D I N G S – B O T C A P A B I L I T I E S
Currently available chat bots focus on customers (though
merchant-facing bots are also in the works)
Some providers are also building white label bots that their
partners (e.g. banks) can brand and deploy for their customers
Current bots have both transactional and informational features
Features that users can access via chat bots today include
• Send money to a contact (e.g. friend)
• Split bills with a contact
• Get account information for card accounts (e.g. balances)
• Get information about recent transactions
• Access insights on spend patterns & savings opportunities
• Get educated about financial concepts (e.g. credit)
We believe that the payments industry will increasingly look to
deploy bots to meet specific objectives. In addition, we think
• New feature additions to chat bots will take their
capabilities closer to existing mobile apps / portals
• Bot capabilities will be delivered as a part of integrated
omni-channel experiences that include apps & portals
• Bots will increasingly provide proactive analytical features
to users, in addition to transaction and information delivery
• Bot feature roadmaps will be driven by user experience
• Chat bots built for merchants will herald the next wave of
deployments of bots in payments
F I N D I N G S - S U M M A R Y
Almost a third of the
companies we researched
have either already deployed
chat bots or are building them
4 4
3
1
Companies typically prefer to
make their bots available on
more than one platform
Companies seem to prefer
building bots for Facebook
Messenger & iOS Messages
Voice based access is mostly being delivered via Siri working in
conjunction with the company’s respective (iOS) mobile app
For more information, contact: RAJESH KAMATH (rajesh.kamath@incedoinc.com), SMITA NAIR (smita.nair@incedoinc.com)
CHATBOTS IN THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY
Chat bots are available
in two broad forms Text based Voice based
Messenger Telegram Siri Messages Slack Alexa
S O C I A L D E V I C E O T H E R
We conducted secondary research to understand how the payments
industry uses chat bots today. Our research covered
HAVE BOTS
NO BOTS
7
18
User presence
& preferences
Seamless user
experience
Reduced cost
of fulfillment