European money app Revolut has jumped aboard the chatbot train, launching an assistant, called Rita, to help customers with hundreds of questions.
Rita (Revolut’s Intelligent Troubleshooting Assistant) sits within the Revolut app's messenger support service where it can resolve hundreds of common questions, such as 'how can I unblock my PIN?' and 'what are your current exchange rates?'
During a pilot, Rita resolved 20% of 7500 customer queries a day, earning a customer satisfaction score of 4.3 out of five.
Revolut says that Rita will become more sophisticated over time, providing a more personalised service. It will be able to answer questions about how much users have spent on specific areas such as transport as well as non-financial information like whether a flight is on schedule.
Nikolay Storonsky, CEO, Revolut, says: "In a world where you can order a taxi to your door in seconds or a takeaway from your favorite restaurant in a tap - it’s insane that my bank still puts me on hold for 20 minutes to answer simple questions about my account. Asking for information about your finances should be as easy as sending a text. And, the reply should be instant."
Former Credit Suisse trader Stronsky launched Revolut in 2015 and claims to have already signed up nearly half a million customers across 42 European countries for its app and card-based service, which lets users send, spend and save money internationally.
The company has raised over $15 million in investment from the likes of Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, Ribbit Capital, Point Nine and Seedcamp. Last year it ran a £1 million crowdfunding campaign which was 11 times oversubscribed by 11,000 would-be investors.