Banks to use AI and other digital tools to boost customer support

British banks are set to ramp up digital tools and customer support teams to cope with a wave of consumers and business owners looking for help in the year ahead. Lenders will have a vital role in providing support as household incomes are further squeezed, mortgage rates rise, and businesses struggle, experts have said. Krishnapriya Banerjee, a managing director in Accenture's UK banking practice, told the PA news agency that banks are being challenged to improve how they engage with customers amid looming recession fears. She told PA: "There is a bigger focus on providing the right service to the consumer, whether that's the contact centres and dealing with the flurry of calls that come through, or using a higher amount of data, artificial intelligence, or conversational technology to support those conversations. "I think we will see much greater utilisation of technology to support customer interaction in the year ahead." For example, companies can now use voice recognition technology to detect emotional distress among customers, which Ms Banerjee said could be the key for lenders to proactively prevent forbearance calls from borrowers at risk of defaulting on their loan payments at a later stage. She added: "One of the things that we are seeing with the cost-of-living crisis is that people are really thinking about how they are budgeting their money.