Bank of America is to allocate an additional $500 million from tax reforms to its digital spend over the next few quarters, as previous investments in mobile apps, P2P money transfers and customer-facing AI come good.
The Bank publicised the increased budget at an investor presentation on its Q2 results, which included a raft of upwardly trending stats on digital adoption.
The most startling growth comes from uptake of its artificial intelligence-driven virtual financial assistant Erica, which now has more than two million users, doubling the user base in just a month.
On the mobile front, device driven customer numbers rose 11% year-on-year to 25.3 million, while digital sales represented a quarter of all products sold in the quarter.
Mobile person-to-person payments app Zelle also recorded striking growth, with user numbers doubling to four million. The volume and value of payments transmitted via Zelle shot up 143% and 118% compared the equivalent quarter last year.
“We’re thrilled to see such rapid adoption of our latest mobile enhancements,” says Michelle Moore, head of digital banking at Bank of America. “We look forward to continuing to innovate and deliver new solutions based upon our clients’ direct feedback to help our 25 million mobile clients better achieve their financial goals on their terms.”