CINCINNATI—When Fifth Third launched its mobile app virtual assistant Jeanie in May of 2020 she had the ability to understand 35 different customer intents—what they are asking for—and was trained on 3,000 customer phrases. Now those numbers are 156 and 30,000.
And, "Jeanie 2.0" has some fun new features. Ask how she got her name, tell her you love her, or ask, "what does a Fifth Third Better mean?" and she’ll provide some creative responses.
"When she rolled out as a virtual assistant, Jeanie had responses that were self-help, limited automations, and a preset menu of options," said Art Weston, director of automated channel transformation at Fifth Third. "Jeanie met many customer needs but has the potential to do much more. She previously could understand about 25 percent of customer intents. That number is now 90 percent."
Weston and others analyzed Jeanie to understand how customers interacted with her and where improvements could be made. They reviewed 225,000 conversations Jeanie had with customers each month, using advance topic modeling to extract the key intents and compared those to how Jeanie could help. Fifth Third then rebuilt the "brain" of Jeanie by using a proprietary method that has increased intent recognition and accuracy.
"Now that we understand what the customer is asking, Jeanie has more thoughtful responses to customers," Weston said. "That includes directing a customer to a live agent after two attempts if Jeanie can’t understand what the customer needs."
What else is new?
- Feature-linking capabilities that take a customer to the part of the app or website needed to complete the task, versus providing instructions.
- Jeanie can assist customer service agents with their customer conversations. Agents receive abbreviated private messages that highlight the customer conversation with Jeanie, saving time from having to read the full conversation.
- When customers go idle in the conversation, they are placed in a virtual lobby. This allows agents to have a clear queue and not reach out to unavailable customers. Once in the virtual lobby, customers are asked if they want to continue the conversation. If yes, they are routed to the next available agent. Otherwise, the conversation closes.
And here’s what Jeanie will tell you about her name: In 1977, Fifth Third Bank launched the very first ATM network in the U.S., transforming banking convenience by providing 24/7 cash withdraws. This network was named Jeanie. Since then, Jeanie has evolved into a virtual assistant. With 40+ years of banking experience, Jeanie is older, wiser, and still there to help 24/7.
About Fifth Third
Fifth Third is a bank that’s as long on innovation as it is on history. Since 1858, we’ve been helping individuals, families, businesses and communities grow through smart financial services that improve lives. Our list of firsts is extensive, and it’s one that continues to expand as we explore the intersection of tech-driven innovation, dedicated people and focused community impact. Fifth Third is one of the few U.S.-based banks to have been named among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies® for several years. With a commitment to taking care of our customers, employees, communities and shareholders, our goal is not only to be the nation’s highest performing regional bank, but to be the bank people most value and trust.
Fifth Third Bank, National Association is a federally chartered institution. Fifth Third Bancorp is the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, and its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB." Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Member FDIC.