AI startup gets $3m to put banking chatbots into Facebook Messenger

A woman in Taipei on her phone. Photo credit: Antonio Tajuelo.

The internet and smartphone eras have exposed the fact that most companies are terrible at making websites and apps. Of those, your bank is likely up there with the worst. One startup’s solution is an AI-powered banking chatbot that you can talk to in Facebook Messenger for common tasks like paying bills or checking your balance.

That Singapore-based startup, Active AI, has created a way for banks to offer you a chatbot. The team behind it today announced it has secured US$3 million in funding from IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital to persuade more banks around the world to pick up on its chatbots. (Updated four hours after publishing: The startup says its statement mentioned WhatsApp in error; the bots can only be used “on Messenger or the bank’s proprietary software.” Therefore the headline and story are amended to remove WhatsApp references.)

Conversation is the new UX.

If your bank makes use of Active AI’s bot, you’ll be able to jump into the messaging app to do things like view your recent transactions, transfer money to buddies, and even get a temporary raise in your credit card limit. The bots won’t try to answer your question about the meaning of life like Siri or Alexa, but they’ll rack their lil’ AI brains on any banking-related topic you pitch. (Updated two days after publishing: The startup has responded to our queries, saying Axis Bank in India has announced this week it will be rolling out the service. More banks are in the pipeline. “In Singapore and India, Active AI will mainly deliver on Messenger. In Thailand, the primary channel will be Line, while in Vietnam the company is looking to deliver on Zalo,” says a spokesperson.)

“Conversation is the new UX,” says Ravi Shankar, the startup’s CEO and co-founder. “With banks opening up APIs, a new era of digital business is emerging. We are moving from ‘mobile first’ to ‘AI first’ and Active AI is the platform facilitating banks to achieve that.”

The founding team at Active AI have backgrounds in banking and fintech, having founded companies in mobile banking and payments.