The new technologies being developed by IBM researchers will benefit the bank’s robotics platform by using Watson’s natural language and other cognitive capabilities.
Starting this May, the bank will implement the platform on Pepper robots from SoftBank Robotics across local branches.
The robots will interact with bank customers and analyze data from the Mizuho Bank website and customer-specific information to provide more personalized customer interactions.
Pepper’s physical characteristics and Watson’s natural language processing capabilities will allow bank customers to have a natural conversation, where their words as well as their gestures and expressions, will be understood.
Mizuho Bank CEO and president Nobuhide Hayashi said: "Mizuho Bank is dedicated to exploring new technologies such as cognitive computing to continually improve our client experience.
"The insights gained from our collaboration with Watson – and customer interactions with our branch robots – will help us further improve our customer service and drive innovation in the financial space."
The incubation department of Mizuho Bank was established in April 2014 to accelerate the adoption of new technologies and create new businesses that will enhance client experiences.
Mizuho Bank will apply the expertise collected from the projects to other bank operations, including transaction processing and consulting efforts.
The bank will use insights from Watson’s cognitive services to provide customer support with better speed and accuracy in order to enhance mobile app and ATM services for customers.
