Ally Bank, the direct banking subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY), has further expanded its Ally Mobile Banking app to include Ally Assist, a virtual assistant that responds to customer inquiries in a way that delivers a more intuitive and personalized banking experience.
Currently available in the Ally Mobile Banking app for iPhone®, Ally Assist also has the ability to predict customer needs by analyzing accounts and transactions to present context-aware topics and messages to customers.
Specifically, users can interact with Ally Assist via speech or text to perform a wide range of tasks, such as:
• Initiate transfers, bill payments, Popmoney® transactions and deposits
• Request detailed information on accounts and transactions
• Obtain information on interest earned and saving/spending patterns
Additional benefits include improved accessibility and navigation and an increased ability for customers to evaluate their banking accounts in a more meaningful way to better manage their personal finances.
"As consumers rapidly adapt to the mobile environment, they are also becoming more familiar with voice-assisted applications," said Diane Morais, president and chief executive officer of Ally Bank. "Consistent with our focus on offering new features we believe will enhance the overall banking experience, we are introducing Ally Assist to enable customers to further customize how they manage their Ally accounts in an intuitive, convenient and easy-to-use manner."
Using automated intelligence and customer data profiles, Ally Assist anticipates customers' needs and approaches them with relevant solutions. The system "learns" from individual interactions and transactional behavior to determine the likelihood of needed information. For example, it can suggest data users might be interested in, such as the date and amount of a recent deposit, or a duplicate charge posted to a checking account.
"Ally Assist will give our customers a deeper awareness of their bank account activity in a unique and insightful manner, ultimately allowing more control in managing their money right at their fingertips," added Morais.
In addition to this latest enhancement, Ally Mobile Banking offers easy-to-use features such as Ally eCheck DepositSM, which allows customers to scan and electronically deposit checks, as well as Popmoney, a convenient alternative to sending cash or checks to friends, family or service providers. Other applications include Bill Pay, the ability to transfer funds between Ally and non-Ally accounts, a call wait-time feature and an ATM & Cash Locator.
The Ally Mobile Banking app is available on all three leading smartphone platforms: Android™, iPhone and Windows® Phone 8, as well as iPad®, Kindle FireSM and Android™ tablets.