Standard Bank of South Africa has announced its partnership with IT services provider IBM to implement the latter’s Watson technology for banking solutions in South Africa
The company said in a statement that it will become the first financial institution in the African continent to implement IBM’s Watson technology. This is an artificially intelligent technology, which is capable of answering questions posed in any language. The computer system was specifically developed to answer questions for the Jeopardy quiz show in 2011.
Vuyo Mpako, head of innovation at Standard Bank, said, “Although the IBM Watson programme has been used for other applications, notably in the healthcare arena, it will be the first time in Africa that this technology will be used by a bank to interpret and maximise use of our data.
The ultimate beneficiaries of the project will be our customers for whom the process-known as cognitive computing will undoubtedly bring many benefits as we continue to identify innovative ways of doing business and build a bank for the future.”
An official from Standard Bank revealed that the agreement with IBM is one of the most important and potentially beneficial projects, which will change the banking sector and the way customers interact in South Africa.
“Piloting Watson is about doing the right things better and taking a major step in our commitment to provide banking services and solutions built around our customers. This will be achieved through the benefits that Watson offers in consolidating data and improving service levels and accuracy,” Mpako concluded.
