A program named Temenos Virtual COO, which combines Explainable AI-technology analysis and open banking information aggregation in an API-first interface and is targeted at SMEs, was rolled out worldwide Tuesday, according to a press release.
Temenos and is marketing the product as a “Virtual Chief Operating Officer in your pocket”, and says that the program can help SMEs run their business by offering financial insights and decision-advisement.
The virtual COO is built upon Explainable AI technology which was developed by Temenos and Canadian Western Bank (CWB). This means that the solutions and advice outputted by the AI algorithm are broken down to be understood by humans. This is important for SMEs because they can see the reasons why the virtual COO created a suggestion, the factors that contribute to the reasoning and how a business move can affect revenue and end-goals.
Only 62% of financial institutions feel like they have been successful in innovating in the SME space, which made up $850 billion of banking revenue last year, the news release said citing a Financial Brand report.
Kam Chana, Product Innovation Director at Temenos, noted that SMEs “have the largest gap of any segment between customer expectations and the experience being delivered.” She says that with a $5.2 trillion funding gap in the segment, “the opportunity is enormous if financial institutions leverage technology to deliver intelligent solutions to businesses.”
Temenos is a Swiss company specializing in enterprise software for financial services and institutions. The company, created in 1993, serves over 3,000 financial institutions worldwide, has offices in over 40 countries, and is listed on the Swiss stock exchange.
Meanwhile, CWB is an Edmonton, Canada-based bank serving Western Canada. Founded in 1988, CWB is made up of 10 financial service companies, including its virtual banking division Motive Financial. Jeff Wright, Senior Vice President of Equipment, Digital & Client Solutions, says that CWB partnered with Temenos on the virtual COO in order to help support the over 1.1 million SMEs in Canada.
The Federal Reserve stated earlier this year they were exploring the need for increase supervision in banking AI. The prepared statement by Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said that it is important to make sure AI used by the financial community leads to equitable outcomes for consumers.”