Truist Leverages AI to Proactively Guide Customers’ Financial Lives

For too long, banking communication has acted like a rear-view mirror, only informing customers about events after they’ve occurred. Truist is changing that dynamic with an artificial intelligence-powered service designed to offer timely, predictive insights directly within its digital channels.

Launched in 2023, Truist Insights works alongside the bank’s virtual assistant, Truist Assist, to deliver proactive alerts, warnings, and suggestions to consumer, small business, and wealth management clients. The system moves beyond simple notifications, analyzing individual financial behavior to provide personalized, actionable intelligence.

“It’s about using AI to be there at the right moment with the right information,” says Dontá Wilson, Truist’s chief consumer and small business banking officer. He emphasizes that the goal is solving real problems and creating opportunities for clients.

How Truist Insights Delivers Value

The service’s power lies in its predictive capabilities. By tracking income history and expense patterns, Truist Insights can forecast potential shortfalls. For example, if a customer’s spending trajectory suggests they may overspend by mid-month, the system can send an alert.

This foresight allows customers to adjust their behavior proactively. “They might throttle back spending in optional categories like entertainment,” Wilson explains. “Or we might offer them an opportunity to transfer funds from savings to help supplement their spending.”

Other key functionalities include:

• Duplicate Transaction Alerts: Flagging potential billing errors in real-time, rather than waiting for a monthly statement.
• Idle Cash Opportunities: Notifying customers when excess cash in checking could earn more in a savings account.
• Subscription Monitoring: Helping users keep track of recurring charges.

Balancing Helpful Alerts and Avoiding Spam

In an era of notification overload, Truist is acutely aware of the risk of becoming an annoying app. The bank carefully calibrates the frequency and relevance of its insights based on each customer’s specific relationship and activity.

The guiding principle is utility. “Is this information something that the customer can actually do something with?” Wilson states. The channel is strictly for genuine, tailored insights aimed at improving financial well-being—not for indiscriminate marketing blasts.

Bringing Insights from Digital to Branch

Truist’s commitment to data-driven guidance extends into its evolving branch network. As part of a shift toward a consultative model, the bank has introduced “Connection Tiles” in its “insight-driven” locations.

This AI-based tool, similar in concept to Truist Insights, analyzes a customer’s financial situation during a branch appointment. It presents bankers with five prioritized product recommendations or actions based on gaps or opportunities it detects, such as suggesting a money market account for a large, idle deposit.

This approach provides bankers with a focused conversation starter and ensures customers receive consistent, intelligent advice whether they interact digitally or in person. “We want to give customers the best of both worlds,” Wilson says, highlighting Truist’s philosophy of seamlessly blending AI with human expertise.

Source: TheFinancialBrand.com