UniCredit Bank Austria presents its new Internet banking service 24You and launches the first Alexa banking Skill on the Austrian market
- 24You is the most intuitive and user-friendly Internet banking service in Austria
- UniCredit Bank Austria is the first bank in Austria to launch a digital voice assistant with its own Amazon Alexa Skill
UniCredit Bank Austria is pleased to announce two new products as part of its digitalisation campaign: the new Internet banking service 24You and the first Alexa banking Skill in Austria. The new products follow a number of recent innovations such as the photo transfer in the mobile banking app, the "quick more money" feature in the mobile wallet, the "send money to mobile phone contacts" option with ZOIN, the online consumer loan, the possibility to make contactless payments and withdrawals by mobile phone or the service "smart banking in sign language". As part of its "Transform 2019" strategic plan, UniCredit is investing EUR 1.7 billion in digitalisation and digital innovations to meet and anticipate customers' changing needs, behaviours and expectations. UniCredit Bank Austria has a total of 1.6 million customers. Two thirds of all customers, who have a current account, or 800,000 users are already using online services.
Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria, emphasises: "With 24You, we offer customers a completely redesigned Internet banking service, featuring several new functionalities such as a personal finance manager, a chat and call-back option and a newly established securities area - all of this 'state of the art'. During the test phase we did a a usability test with our customers which clearly showed that we are launching the most user-friendly Internet banking service in Austria. Further, with our Alexa banking Skill, we are the first bank in Austria to offer a digital voice assistant for non-personalised services, such as a currency calculator, opening hours of our branches, or general market, financial and economic information, e.g. from our private banking chief analyst Monika Rosen and our chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer. As a leading company in disability management in Austria, we also offer the digital language assistant to support people with a visual impairment. As part of our multi-channel strategy, the new Alexa Skill is an innovative offering which we are extending as an additional service to interested customers to complement existing services which will remain, of course."
The new Internet banking service 24You
By the end of September, 24You will be rolled out to all online customers of UniCredit Bank Austria in three waves of several hundred thousand customers at a time. Initially it will be available in parallel to the existing online banking service during an adaptation phase. A major advertising campaign with Dominic Thiem will promote 24You. 24You puts its simple and intuitive operation in the foreground. Over 30,000 users were involved in the development, with feedback used in a six-month Family & Friends test phase to optimise 24You.
In addition, customer feedback will continue to play an integral role in order to constantly test planned new applications. The responsive design of the new Internet banking service guarantees standard services as auto-completion of names, self-management of debit cards or limits and a notification service via push messages or e-mail, for example on the account balance, new debit cards sent to the customer by the bank and much more.
The most important features of the new 24You Internet banking service are:
- A self-learning personal finance manager that helps to keep a detailed overview of current expenses by showing how much is spent in each of the categories.
- A communication centre which offers the opportunity to communicate with the relationship manager and sign contracts in the secure environment of the Internet banking service.
- A chat and call-back function that enables quick and easy contact with the UniCredit Bank Austria team.
- A complete redesign of the securities area, where securities trading is much easier and faster than before.
Alexa, ask Bank Austria ...
The most innovative and fastest-spreading type of intelligent chatbots are digital voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa. According to Google, the voice-driven search is currently the fastest-growing segment, and it is forecast that by 2020 almost a third of all web sessions will be run without a screen1. In Austria, 40 percent of 14 to 19 year olds and 30 percent of 20 to 59 year olds are already using the digital language assistants2, and one of the most important applications in this area is Amazon Alexa. Against this backdrop, UniCredit Bank Austria is the first bank in Austria to introduce its own Alexa Skill, which is available to all Alexa users in Austria, not only to customers of UniCredit Bank Austria.
In a first phase, the Alexa Skill by UniCredit Bank Austria will only provide answers to general, non-personalised questions, which do not involve personal data in any way.
The most important functionalities of the Alexa Skill by UniCredit Bank Austria are:
- A currency calculator: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria, how much are 1,000 euros in dollars?" ̶ All common currencies are converted precisely according to the current rates of UniCredit Bank Austria.
- Opening hours: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria, what are the opening hours of the branch Am Hof?"
- An ATM & branch finder: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria, where is the nearest branch in 1020 Vienna?"
- Financial news: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria, what is the current financial news?" Daily up-to-date financial information is available as well as in-depth market commentary by our chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer and the chief analyst of private banking Monika Rosen.
- A financial wiki: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria, what is the eurozone?"
- Information on products & services: "Alexa, ask Bank Austria how the photo transfer works?" ¬ and of course much more.
Another important application of the UniCredit Bank Austria Alexa Skill lies in the field of disability management, where UniCredit Bank Austria is one of the leading companies offering barrier-free and accessible services in Austria. In addition to the "Zero Award"-winning service "Smart Banking in Sign Language" for the hearing-impaired, the Alexa Skill as a digital voice assistant is an interesting digital offer especially for people with visual impairments. Furthermore, it is planned to incorporate special questions that may be of interest to people with disabilities into the UniCredit Bank Austria Skill.
The activation of the UniCredit Bank Austria Alexa Skill is available in German language either through the Amazon Alexa Skill Store or directly on any Echo device via the simple command "Alexa, open Bank Austria." More information is available at www.bankaustria.at/alexa.