- NatWest Group is set to trial an industry-first, fully generative audio-visual AI Spending Insights tool, enabling customers to explore their spending through natural voice and text conversations
- Powered by the bank’s proprietary Small Language Models, the trial tool will be able to respond naturally to customers follow-up questions and interruptions.
- A new Fraud Triage Agent within Cora will help customers concerned about suspicious credit card transactions reach the right support more quickly
- New research finds 57% of NatWest customers to say they were using AI much more than six months ago
- The most common financial uses for AI are finding deals and products (42%), savings tips (38%), explaining financial terminology (38%), and checking scams and fraud (36%).
First to market trial of real time voice-to-voice experience
NatWest Group is set to trial an industry-first fully generative audio-visual Spending Insights tool, becoming the first bank to test a real time voice-to-voice conversational AI experience that allows customers to discuss their finances naturally.
Initially trialled through Royal Bank of Scotland, customers will be able to have natural conversations about their finances using voice or text. The Spending Insights tool can respond dynamically to follow-up questions, interruptions, and changes in topic, allowing customers to move seamlessly between discussions about spending, budgeting, and financial habits, creating a more intuitive and interactive experience.
The tool will turn complex transaction data into clear, personalised and interactive insights and graphs, to help customers understand their money and identify potential savings.
Developed by NatWest’s Chief AI Research Office, the tool is powered by NatWest’s proprietary Small Language Model, demonstrating the bank’s growing in-house AI capability to develop advanced AI solutions tailored to customer needs.
Dr Maja Pantic, Chief AI Research Officer, NatWest Group added: “The most exciting AI developments are still ahead of us. Success will not be determined by who adopts AI fastest, but by who adopts it most thoughtfully. Our role is to understand emerging technologies and carry out cutting-edge research that addresses real customer needs so we can earn the trust that allows innovation to scale.
We're moving beyond simple written question and answer interactions towards more natural, audio-visual conversations that allow customers to engage with complex information in a way that feels intuitive and interactive. That's a significant step forward in how people can interact with their bank in the future.”
Expanding fraud support
NatWest has also launched a Fraud Triage Agent within Cora, its digital assistant. Customers concerned about a suspicious credit card transaction can explain what happened and receive guidance to the most appropriate fraud, scam or dispute team or service, instead of categorising the issue themselves.
With around 80% of fraud-related activity originating online and through telecoms platforms*, these personalised tools and AI-driven fraud detection will help customers get the right support through a familiar channel at what can often be a stressful moment, reducing effort and helping resolve concerns more quickly. Since launch, nearly 19,000 customer conversations have been handled in the tool.
The launches coincide with NatWest Group’s AI Adoption Report (hyperlink), which explores how UK businesses are adopting AI and how the bank’s Retail customers are using AI to manage, protect and grow their finances. Key findings from the Retail survey include:
- 57% of customers say they are using AI much more than six months ago
- 40% use AI tools most days or daily, and 22% use AI platforms for financial information and advice.
- The most common financial uses are finding deals and products (42%), savings tips (38%), explaining financial terminology (38%), and checking scams and fraud (36%).
- 64% would be interested in AI helping them through the mortgage journey and identifying suitable options.
- 81% say access to a real person remains the most important factor in building trust in AI use in financial services, with a further 77% wanting confidence that AI-enabled services will work 100% reliably and 77% wanting clarity about how their data is handled. 75% say strong oversight by independent regulatory bodies is important.
The findings suggest customers are increasingly using AI in their day-to-day lives, but expect it to be introduced responsibly, with clear safeguards, transparency and access to human interactions where needed.
Solange Chamberlain, Retail CEO, NatWest Group said: "Customers are already using AI as part of their everyday lives, and that is raising expectations of what great banking should feel like. They want experiences that are simpler, more personal and more responsive, while still knowing there's someone to turn to when it matters. Through these new tools, we're strengthening customer relationships by combining the strength of AI with the expertise and judgement of our colleagues to help customers make sense of their money, access support more quickly and navigate important financial decisions with greater confidence.”
Notes to Editors
About the NatWest AI Adoption Report
The NatWest AI Adoption Report provides a picture of AI adoption across the UK, drawing on NatWest's experience as a major adopter of AI alongside proprietary research among consumers and businesses. The report explores three themes shaping the next phase of adoption: customer relationships, growth and trust and sets out how the future success of AI will not be determined by access to technology alone, but by how effectively organisations redesign how work gets done in service of the customer.
