Personalized domestic and overseas stock and dividend information for each user; response satisfaction rate rises above 90%
Kakao Bank's conversational AI service has surpassed 5 million users within a year of its launch.
Kakao Bank introduced "AI Search" last May before expanding it into a broader platform called "Kakao Bank AI," which integrates financial calculations, transfers and financial information lookups. The bank was the first in South Korea's financial sector to apply AI to money transfers and group account services.
The service reached 1 million users within three months of launch, 2 million within six months and 3 million within eight months, before recently crossing the 5 million mark — a pace equivalent to roughly 10 new users every minute since launch.
Kakao Bank has steadily upgraded the service's performance and expanded its features. In April, the bank overhauled the Kakao Bank AI system, adding investment information and card-benefit search functions to improve response quality.
Following the overhaul, the daily average number of customers using Kakao Bank AI to search for investment information — including shares and funds — jumped more than tenfold. The service analyzes each user's level of investment knowledge to deliver personalized information on domestic and overseas stock prices, dividend data and portfolio analysis.
A follow-up question recommendation feature, which suggests relevant queries based on the flow of a conversation, also boosted user satisfaction. The response satisfaction rate climbed above 90 percent, while the mid-conversation drop-off rate fell to around 1 percent.
The most common queries involved government support programs — "high oil price victim support fund" (440,000 queries) and "livelihood recovery consumption coupon" (170,000 queries) topped the list. Users also consistently asked about in-app functions such as bank statement issuance, card reissuance, deferred transit payments and automatic transfers.
Usage patterns varied by age group. Customers in their teens through 30s were more likely to ask about basic financial products such as demand deposit accounts, parking accounts and housing subscription accounts. Those in their 40s through 60s and older submitted more than twice as many queries about asset management topics — including shares, government policy funds and investment products — compared with other age groups.
"Consistent performance improvements allowed us to put customer convenience first, and that is how we grew into a service that 5 million people turn to," Kakao Bank said, adding that it aims to establish itself as an "AI Native Bank" that makes customers' financial lives more convenient through AI technology.
won@heraldcorp.com
