Six in 10 see AI as solution to consumer inertia 

The Compliance Institute survey shows majority belief among professionals in Irish financial services that AI could streamline customer onboarding, though concerns remain

Trade

Photo by negative space via Pexels

According to a survey by the Compliance Institute, six in ten compliance professionals in Ireland’s financial services industry believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could reduce the time it takes to safely and securely onboard customers for banking and financial services, addressing Ireland’s perennial problem of consumer inertia.

Almost one in five (18%) compliance experts believe that the risks of AI outweigh its benefits, while one in four (25%) feel that AI has an equal balance of risks and benefits. One in eight (13%) believe that the advantages will outweigh the risk.

The survey involved 175 compliance professionals primarily from Irish financial services organisations nationwide, gauging their attitudes towards AI.

Michael Kavanagh, chief executive officer, Compliance Institute, said: “AI has the potential to reduce customer onboarding costs to those organisations operating within the financial services industry. Know Your Customer (KYC) and the whole onboarding system is still relatively old-fashioned in many organisations when you think of how far we’ve come technology-wise in the last 10 to 20 years. 

“The costs and time involved on both sides are still too high and there is an expectation that AI could be employed to reduce both. If a person had to jump through just one hoop instead of ten to change their banking provider, there’s a good chance they’d be more likely to do it.

“When it comes to the AI’s risk benefit ratio, our survey found that for almost half of the compliance practitioners asked, the jury is still out. However, most have confidence in its ability to drive change for the better when it comes to consumers and switching.”

Kavanagh went on to highlight several concerns associated with AI, including privacy and misinformation issues, potential job displacement, and the risk of AI-altered images and videos disrupting the democratic process.

“This is why strong regulation in this area is so important and why the recently approved EU AI Act is so necessary. This regulation should ensure that AI systems are designed, developed and deployed in an ethical and trustworthy manner and that the fundamental rights, health and safety of the individual are protected while promoting responsible innovation,” Kavanagh concluded.

TechCentral Reporters

Read More: AI Compliance Institute