BenefitsFinder in The Irish Times

On 22 October The Irish Times published a report by Stephen Conneely on Bank of Ireland’s use of AI in fraud detection and financial guidance. Among the examples was BenefitsFinder, which Narrative developed with Bank of Ireland to help customers identify tax credits and reliefs they may be entitled to.

What the bank reports

According to Bank of Ireland, BenefitsFinder has been used 31,000 times and has identified €55 million in potential tax refunds for customers. These are refunds the tool has pointed customers towards, so the amount actually received depends on what each customer goes on to claim.

The article also quotes the bank’s chief AI officer, Prag Sharma, on the time and testing that went into getting the tool right before it reached customers.

Why this matters to us

Much of the public discussion of AI in banking concerns efficiency and fraud prevention. The coverage of BenefitsFinder shows that AI also has a clear role in helping people understand and use what they are already entitled to, and that a bank is a natural place for that help to come from.

The same principle runs through Narrative Coach. Guidance works best when it starts from the customer’s own circumstances, sits inside a provider the customer already trusts, and leaves decisions with the customer and the institution.