Artificial intelligence is a game changer in the digital payment industry, giving full play to its innovation and creativity

AI or Artificial Intelligence is known for streamlining processes securely, but when it comes to digital payment solutions, AI does more than just simplify and provide security. Artificial intelligence brings automation and enables users to monitor online payments. Here are seven amazing uses of AI in the payments industry.

Driverless or self-driving cars are no longer a new concept, but have you ever thought that the technology behind driverless cars could be used to find fraudulent card or loan applications? Yes, neural network technology or Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is the technology behind self-driving cars. It mimics the human brain and played a crucial role in finding stolen identities from the Equifax data breach and other incidents.

ID Analytics has launched a new fraud scoring system for new applications based on convolutional neural network technology. It is an advanced version of the existing system that provides a bank or financial institution with an indication as to whether a fraud attempt is from a first or third party. Neurotechnology can create 3D models of a person's data, including addresses, phone numbers and transaction records.

The financial technology industry is increasingly relying on AI technology with each passing day. Whether we talk about enterprise-focused banking apps like Chime and Wave or AI-based chatbots that help users get personalized notifications about spending and investments, AI technology is gaining popularity among entrepreneurs.

Here, we are referring to the other side of machine learning and AI robots. Fraudsters utilize AI-powered bots to commit online fraud, which is a huge challenge for various industries, including the travel industry. The travel or tourism industry witnesses various types of online and offline fraud attempts, especially during the holiday season. Many criminals are looking to take advantage of the situation that has arisen due to the surge in travel.

Many cybercriminals use bots to reserve seats on flights, resulting in an incorrect increase in the price of unsold seats. Travelers and travel companies must witness various challenges arising from the fraudulent use of bots.

After understanding the dark side of AI, let’s experience an exciting opportunity to pursue digital payment solutions. Yes, it is the convergence of payments and social media. Facebook, Alibaba and several other companies have taken advantage of the convergence by bringing payment solutions through Messenger apps. Amazon is now following suit, working on a messaging platform called Anytime.

We can certainly expect that the term "conversational commerce" will gain popularity in the fintech and e-commerce sectors during this period. Gone are the days when conversational commerce would be widely adopted by people around the world. Chris Messina already predicted the bright future of conversational commerce back in 2016. Consumers will utilize various methods such as chat, messaging and even voice to conduct online transactions. Artificial intelligence technology will play a key role in achieving this goal.

In the near future, the boundaries between human agents and computer bots will become blurred due to advanced AI technology where users cannot find the difference between the two.

Financial companies and banks have gradually begun deploying AI-based bots on Facebook Messenger to process payments and provide personalized customer service. One such company is American Express (AmEx), which has a dedicated chatbot on Messenger for sending transaction notifications and benefit alerts to users. Every time a user purchases anything, a dedicated chatbot sends notifications about the transaction.

Another version of the AmEx chatbot allows users to add cards when linking their AmEx account to the user's Facebook account. The card's credentials are then stored with the user's Facebook account to help them conduct transactions on the social network. In the future we will have more intelligent and powerful AI bots that will perform various tasks on Facebook Messenger and other social media channels. In short, the emergence of AI bots on Facebook will promote the concept of conversational commerce.

This is one of the biggest benefits of AI. Douugh, a fintech startup, has developed an AI-based virtual assistant to help its consumers regain their financial health. As Douugh said, Sophie can help consumers reduce credit card debt and loans while enabling them to make better savings decisions. Virtual assistants can also perform diagnostics on customers' financial situations and manage their spending goals while handling payment-related tasks such as bill payments and tracking payments. In a way, Dougug has taken a huge step towards providing smart bank accounts to customers.

Artificial intelligence technology is designed to analyze user or customer behavior and make predictions. When applied to the fintech sector, it will continue to analyze data about customers’ spending patterns and savings habits.

In a way, it helps users maintain a delicate balance between loans and deposits while keeping their finances in good shape. In the next few years, many financial technology companies and BFSI industries will leverage the advantages of artificial intelligence technology to provide 360-degree financial solutions.

Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, is leveraging the concept of conversational AI to take customer experience to the next level. This approach enables banks to manage customers' accounts and facilitate their payments. Banks have taken enough steps to make interactions natural so that customers don't realize they are chatting with a bot rather than a human.

DBS’s AI-driven robot Kai can do more for the bank’s customers than agents in customer centers. For example, if a customer asks for an amount they spent last month, it may take the agent some time to get the data, but Kai will give an answer immediately.

In the coming years, many other banks will also launch powerful and reliable automated programs. On the one hand, such robots can reduce the pressure on bankers, and on the other hand, customers can receive better services 24/7.

This futuristic approach has actually been implemented by Shanghai’s self-driving supermarket Moby, which “identifies” customers via a mobile app. What's more, the store is solar powered and has a holographic greeting staff.

Although the concept is in its infancy, its scope is broad and offers many opportunities for retailers. When it comes to the reasons why the Moby store is trying this concept in Shanghai, the store hopes to maintain its retail presence in areas where the economy cannot support permanent grocery stores. Here, although AI technology takes care of the customer service and delivery process, autonomous stores still require human help to return unsold items to the warehouse.

Amazon Go is a more effective example of a concept store. It has sensors throughout the store instead of holographic greeters. Sensors can easily detect which customer is making a purchase and which payment method is being used. In other words, AI-based sensors only collect and analyze data related to user behavior.

In short, artificial intelligence is a game-changer in the digital payments industry. As technology becomes mainstream in this field, we will use AI technology innovatively and creatively.