Finnets Chat — Banking Chatbot (Demo)

Hello! 👋 Finnets AI is a secure, bank-ready chatbot designed to run on a financial institution’s backend servers. It summarizes a customer’s account data (when allowed by both the user and institution) and answers bank-related questions in natural language. There are also settings to make application more accessible, have chat language support for ~50 languages, and have some customizable UI elements.

Problem and Solution Statement

Problems

Employing the design thinking framework for brainstorming and solution design, we identified their difficulties as follows:

1. Confusing experiences when seeking technical and financial support via bank applications:
   • Customers may feel confused by technical language or unclear instructions in the banking app.
   • New users may not understand the steps required to complete certain transactions in the app.
2. Limited language options for non-native English-speaking customers:
   • Traditional banking apps often offer limited language options beyond the major languages.
   • Translation often has to be accessed through the settings, which feels rigid.
3. Long wait times for customer service via chat sessions:
   • Traditional chat sessions usually go through a filter handled by a hard-coded virtual assistant. A lack of customer service representatives leads to longer wait times.

Solutions

In response to the user challenges, our team built FinNets to address the top three priority of customers' needs:

1. An AI-powered virtual assistant that offers technical support via chat sessions.
   • The virtual assistant can provide instant feedback, including general banking information, regulations, and technical instructions, helping customers use the app effectively.
2. Customers can opt in or out of private information sharing, allowing the chatbot to provide in-depth financial analysis.
   • If authorized, the virtual assistant can access the data center and provide in-depth analysis on customer financial activities.
   • Customers can discuss ways to improve their savings and investment returns with the virtual assistant.
3. Supports multiple languages to assist a diverse customer base:
   • The virtual assistant can respond to customers in any language they request.
   • Customers can switch languages easily without going through the settings. To showcase what FinNets can do, meet John Doe. As a senior citizen, he prioritizes security and independence. With FinNets, he can:
   • Receive his financial report without performing complex in-app navigation.
   • Adjust font size and colors, with simple navigation.
   • Handle his finances on his own and feel confident doing it.
   • Query in any language of choice. FinNets is not just another automated tool. It is a leverage to improve customer service when using our bank apps.

Tech Used Written Statement

Core Technology Used

• This project uses Watsonx.ai as the core LLM for our chatbot feature.

Watsonx.ai Can

• Respond to customers' general queries.
• Provide in-depth analysis on financial information collected from the data center.
• Offer technical solutions based on pre-scripted prompts.

Development Stack

Frontend: JavaScript with the Next.js framework. Backend: MySQL and Next.js API routes.

Demo Setup Guide

• Readsetup details on the GitHub README.md file

Using the app

• Production/Development demo: open http://localhost:3000
• Make sure that only one container (production/development) is on at a time!
• When you get to the bank page, login with either of these accounts:
  • janesmith jane.smith@example.com password123
  • johndoe john.doe@example.com password123

App Features to Try

• Language & theme
  Use the Chat Language button to pick one of ~50 most used world languages. Change accent color, font, and toggle contrast mode in Settings.

• Account summary
  When allowed by both user consent and bank policy, the chatbot renders a server-fetched snapshot of the user’s accounts.

• Chat
  Ask questions about balances, transactions, cards, etc. The app calls bank APIs server-side according to your .env and gateway keys.