Kia Motors Finance customers will be able to make account-specific queries online as soon as the first quarter of 2020, CarLabs.AI Chief Executive Martin Schmitt told Auto Finance News.
The AI-chatbot developer integrated a navigational chatbot onto the captive’s website in April, which directs customers to the right resource and answers questions such as, “When is my next payment due,” or “How do I set up autopay?”
“The experience has improved tremendously so people don’t get as lost, and we’ve been able to learn what’s on the customers’ minds,” Schmitt said. “That’s really the most important [benefit] that led KMF to the phase 2 product that we’re building for BMW.”
The next step is to build a virtual assistant that is authenticated and behind the firewall so users can log in to carry out account-specific changes, make payments or see account balances. CarLabs is aiming for rollout in the first quarter of 2020, Schmitt said.
“To offset call center volumes and operational costs for the captive, you have to be able to address account-specific questions per customer,” said Brendan Flynn, CarLabs’ chief growth officer. “The initial solution is good, but the big benefit is delivering the insight which gives a business requirement to then build the second product that will actually offset call center volumes.”
CarLabs is working with several other OEMs and captives, including Honda, Acura, Hyundai Capital America and BMW Financial Services.
