Acquiring banks that use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor merchants on their platforms say the technology has yielded many significant benefits that help boost their businesses' bottom lines. A new report, AI In Focus: Gaining Ground On Merchant Monitoring, a PYMNTS and Brighterion collaboration that surveyed 104 executives from acquiring banks, found that the main benefit is improved operational efficiencies that help drive down costs. Ninety percent of these acquirers cite improved operational efficiencies as one of the benefits of using AI, and 18% say it is the chief benefit. Many acquirers also say that AI has helped them tackle several key barriers holding back their profitability, including fraud, low transaction volumes, short stays by merchants and the need for manual review. The use of AI also helps acquirers differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Recent data points to substantial adoption and annual growth as companies leverage the increasingly intelligent, computerized conversationalists to connect with customers and enhance their experience. Consumers also report an uptick in their willingness to engage with chatbots; survey results from Salesforce show that 58 percent of customers believe emerging technologies have already "changed their expectations of companies" and 77 percent expect chatbots to transform expectations over the next five years. Historically resistant to automate people- and precision-driven processes, financial institutions are now catching up to the market at large, using bots to answer client and staff questions -- and are enjoying tangible benefits. According to Vijay Sankaran, CIO of TD Ameritrade, chatbot technology represents "a key part of our strategy, and we'll continue to invest in it." With organizations now banking on bots to bridge the gap between customer expectations and experience, what's the best way to make the most of this emerging interactive experience?