The bot leverages IBM’s cloud-based cognitive service Watson Conversation to improve the service experience for RBS customers.

RBS plans to make Luvo accessible via its webchat service in December for 10% of its customers in Scotland.

The bot will be able to provide answers for all the queries from authorization of card for overseas use to updating home address.

In case of complex questions, Luvo will direct them to human for answers.

Upon successful completion of the pilot program, the bank is expected to roll out Luvo to its NatWest customers.

Earlier this year, RBS conducted two-month trial of the technology earlier this year among its 1,200 employees and NatWest staff.

The trail run mainly handled queries from small businesses customers with problems such as lost corporate cards or forgotten pins.

RBS and NatWest personal banking head Jane Howard said: “Luvo frees advisors from spending time on simple, easily-addressed queries so they can help customers with more complex issues and questions.”

Luvo is targeted at helping the bank’s customers with fast responses while reducing waiting times drastically.

RBS said: “With LUVO being able to find answers from a variety of sources of information in just a split second and with staff being freed up to handle more complex problems, customers are to set benefit from a much simpler and faster process. “

In the future, the cognitive chat bot could start using IBM Watson Alchemy Language capability to switch its tone and actions by understating how a customer is feeling.

 IBM Watson Solutions Financial Services Europe head Chris Withers said: “As this cognitive system continues to learn overtime, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest will be able to expand Luvo’s capabilities to more complex areas such as providing increased personalization and using predictive analytics to detect possible issues before they arise to make a recommended course of action,”

In May, RBS partnered with Red Hat, a major provider of open source solutions, to deploy technologies for its new Open Experience center at its headquarters in Edinburgh, UK.

Image: RBS Building, 250 Bishopsgate, London. Photo courtesy of RBS.