bunq makes its GenAI assistant Finn fully conversational

Banking & Payments DECODED

Previous edition: 15 May 2024
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bunq makes its GenAI assistant Finn fully conversational

bunq, the second largest neobank in Europe, has upgraded its user-facing AI assistant, Finn, my making it fully conversational. The challenger has also rolled out its worldwide one-time activation travel insurance, in partnership with embedded insurance provider, Qover.

The two announcements coincide with bunq reporting strong growth. Specifically, its total user base has topped 12.5 million, and deposits now exceed €8bn.

Pushing further into AI

After a successful beta launch, bunq says that its AI money assistant, Finn, represents Europe’s first AI-driven banking experience. Finn has already answered over 100,000 questions since December 2023. Now it can answer back-to-back questions and provide deeper insights into users’ finances at twice the speed.

Finn will tackle users’ questions regarding their bank accounts and spending habits. It can also recommend places to visit in new cities including cafes, restaurants and bars, based on reviews by other bunq users. The upgrade also unlocks conversational capabilities that set Finn apart from other chatbots. Besides engaging in natural conversations and storing the history of users’ interactions with Finn, the AI assistant will serve as an extension of the bunq app, providing personalised, context-rich answers.

“At bunq, we use the latest tech to make our users’ lives easy”, said Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of bunq. “We’re thrilled to see so many of our users embrace Finn in their daily lives and can’t wait for them to have a chat with the all-new Finn.”

As well as effectively replacing the search function in the app, bunq uses AI to handle user support questions. Finn is independently solving up to 40% of user support questions, and assisting with 75%, every day.

Expanding into travel insurance and beyond

bunq’s expansion into travel insurance marks the next step to build a full-service neobank for digital nomads worldwide.

International travel is booming, nearing pre-pandemic levels with just under 1.3 billion trips in 2023. Designed to tackle the challenges faced by travelers when re-purchasing travel insurance for every trip, bunq now offers automatic worldwide coverage for anyone on the Easy Bank Pro XL plan. Users simply activate the feature once and enjoy coverage for all future trips. Insurance claims can be filed right in the app, via the link to Qover. Unlike many other travel insurance products, bunq’s travel insurance will cover for car rental, dental and loss of personal items for up to 1 million euros.

“We’re making travel insurance effortless. It’s exactly the peace of mind we want our users to have, whether they spend, save or travel with bunq,” said Niknam.

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