The financial industry is one of the first that has been changed by the digital transformation because users have become more demanding and changes in their behavior have influenced on banks and other financial institutions to adapt quickly. The first changes occurred in the area of ​​customer care, which further led to further automation of the process. Second, there were fintech companies that forced banks to step out of their comfort zone and start this “digital game”. Some of the best examples of digital banks, such as DBS Singapore Bank or Tatra Bank of Slovakia, say that digitally acquired users bring far more revenue than new users who have made at physical locations of the bank, and that being a digital bank involves digitizing all levels, from frontend to backend, so digital banks rely right on AI.

As today everything revolves around users, and the largest group of users of financial institutions are mostly millennials (or will be soon), companies need to be aware that millennials will hold most of the world’s wealth, that they are changing banks much faster, and the way of communication with companies. As global analysis shows that 60% of millennials are already using chatbots and 70% of them have had a positive experience, we have presented to the Canadian market the importance of these facts and how Weaver can help them as a comprehensive channel of communication that leads to new users as well as increased satisfaction of the existing ones.

Credit unions in Canada are a very popular form of financial institution, and they are the ones who have shown the most interest in this kind of event. Across Canada, there are 240 credit unions operating in over 1,750 locations. To remain competitive in the financial sector, Canadian credit unions need to adopt new technologies and strategies for clients to provide quality services to their members, both now and in the future. The conference was opened by Goran Samuel Pesic, president and CEO of the Samuel Associates company, joined by Greg Richards, associate professor at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. The conference was supported by the Association of Credit Unions of Canada, and Vice-President Michael Hatch gave an overview of current developments in the credit union market in Canada. The conference moderator was Mr. Jerry Pitzul, also from Samuel Associates.

Senior Partner for IBM Security Services and Financial Services, Stewart Cawthray, was the guest speaker and spoke about how credit unions can prepare to adopt artificial intelligence based solutions, as well as other advanced solutions that can help them maintain their positions in the industry.

After a brief introduction of our representatives, our CEO Nebojsa Bjelotomic gave a presentation about changes in the financial market, changing of customer behavior and how Weaver can be an ideal solution for generations representing the largest group of credit union users. Milen Janjic, Director of OWN IP Software Solutions, presented our solution in detail, talked about the benefits of using our solution, its features, as well as the numbers that speak to the positives of using our solution. Milen pointed out the facts that Weaver is the first multi-language and voice bot in the CEE region, that 27% of users using the Weaver chatbot do not use other digital channels of the company and that it only takes 3 months before the solution is implemented, and the present were very interested and encouraged to participate actively and ask questions. We also presented a demo of our solution, as well as a video case study, which was a great introduction for video inclusion, by Nebojsa Jovanovic, Director of the Digital Banking and Products Division, Raiffeisen Bank. Nebojsa told the audience how we implemented our solution, which was named Rea (Raiffeisen Bank Assistant). He also introduced all the phases of their virtual assistant Rea, which answers she could provide at the begining, and how much she has advanced in almost two years and became one of the most advanced bots in Europe.