Nao Robot in Banking Customer Services
By the end of April 2015, Nao Robot had already been successfully deployed in the first of many branches of a high-profile Japanese bank chain, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, to greet customers and provide high-quality contextually sensitive answers to questions, pointing them in the right directions, before they get to the stage of queuing to speak to a human bank teller.
That June, it was announced that Sterling Bank & Trust in Cupertino had introduced a pair of Nao robots to greet clients, hand out business cards and provide a measure of entertainment.
Pepper Robot in Banking Customer Services
Between July 2015 and January 2016, Mizuho Bank in Japan had rolled out ten Pepper robot units across its branches. The range of functions that they already served by the start of 2016 was a wide one, encompassing:
- Games as entertainment for those waiting in the queue to be served
- Games for children waiting for their parents or guardians to finish tending to their business in the bank
- Insurance product recommendations based on customers' responses to questions
- Introductions to different financial services products offered by the bank
- Financial education through the medium of the entertaining telling of anecdotal case studies
In July 2016, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company in Japan announced that it would be deploying a fleet of 100 Pepper robot units across its 80 branches by 2017, with duties including the explanation of its insurance products to potential customers in the branches, and accompanying the insurance company's salespeople on promotional visits to businesses who might be in the market for corporate insurance policies for their employees.
In September 2016, Emirates UDB Bank in the United Arab Emirates announced plans to use Pepper at promotional events to communicate with customers, identify the purposes of their visits, and present to them the financial services products that best match their needs.
In October 2016, First Commercial Bank in Taiwan started to use Pepper in a customer service role and announced plans to put a fleet of twenty Pepper robot units into action in its branches across the island.