Citibank in Germany has converted 70% of its private clients to a new speech-activated share dealing system by agressively cutting fees for telephone traders who use the technology.
The solution - which uses software from SpeechWorks running on an Intervoice platform - enables the bank’s securities department to handle four times as many calls as was previously possible with live agents. In recognition, Citi cut charges per customer transaction by 68% compared to an agent-handled call, and reduced the actual customer ordering fees by as much as 75 percent, depending on the volume ordered.
Peter Georgi, director of strategic planning at Citibank, says: "Speech recognition has for many become the preferred method to conduct financial transactions. Proof is that over 70 percent of our telephone transactions are now conducted using the new speech interface. These results will undoubtedly set a benchmark in the financial industry.”
The new speech-activated service can identify the 3000 most frequently requested securities by name, and another 42,150 securities by their corresponding securities numbers. The service also deals with real-time price inquiries for index and individual securities and offers access to personal trading portfolios.
Stuart Patterson, president and CEO of SpeechWorks says the firm is planning further joint projects involving speech-enabled financial services for Citibank.