For those of us that are regulars at fintech and artificial intelligence (AI) conferences and follow the development and innovation around AI, virtual financial assistants (VFAs) have gotten a lot of attention at these events for a few years now. But lately it seems that VFAs might be becoming old news -- conferences have started moving onto other topics after focusing on conversational AI for several years in a row. So the questions many people have are: "What's taking so long? Why doesn't my bank have one yet?" The hype around VFAs and their benefits the last few years may seem new but it is not, it just got louder.

Digital banking has not only gone mainstream but in many cases, it has become the only point of contact between banks and their customers. While financial services delivered through digital channels have brought the convenience of anywhere, anytime banking to consumers, what is the cost? And, are banks living up to the expectations of their customers? One of the main challenges the financial industry faces is the risk of diminished customer relationships as we make the shift to digital. Let's face it, online banking sites can be pretty impersonal.

By Nathaniel Popper Your bank really wants to chat. This week Bank of America, MasterCard and several financial startups announced new tools -- known as chatbots -- that will allow customers to ask questions about their financial accounts, initiate transactions and get financial advice via text messages or services like Facebook Messenger and Amazon's Echo tower. The early versions of the financial chatbots generally do little more than answer basic queries about recent transactions and spending limits. But companies are aiming to build the chatbots into full-service automated financial assistants that can make payments and keep track of your budget for you. "What will banking be in two, three or four years? It's going to be this," Michelle Moore, the head of digital banking at Bank of America, said in describing the bank's new offering, which it has named Erica.

In the classic science fiction series that began with "Ender's Game," the character Jane begins by using her artificial intelligence to prepare taxes for the hero Ender, but soon takes over management of his entire financial life. When it comes to otherworldly science fiction personalities, Jane is a rather prosaic figure, but Ethan Bloch had her in mind when he began his start-up Digit. Mr. Bloch's company currently creates free automated savings accounts -- and has helped customers put aside over $250 million -- but his vision is to add capabilities until Digit becomes a full-service financial assistant like Jane. There is now a lot of competition to create an automated financial assistant for the masses. Credit Karma and Mint, two popular financial applications with many millions more users than Digit, are about to roll out suites of new features that will make them feel more like robotic financial advisers, tapping customers on the shoulder when they could make better financial decisions. One feature that both Credit Karma and Mint will offer is more automated tax preparation of the sort that Jane provided for Ender (though with much less robotic charm and thoroughness).