By Kirk Drake
In the rollercoaster realm of fintech, 2023 has been less of a gentle carousel and more of a loop-the-loop thrill ride.
While my 2020 tome Financial: Helping Financial Executives Prepare for an Artificial World covered ChatGPT, even my crystal ball didn’t foresee the speed of AI developments in 2023.
This year, AI burst into credit union and fintech walls like the Kool Aid Man. Now, the industry is finding new efficiency, personalization, and security—but without unleashing the woes.
Here’s a look at what I did (or helped develop) with AI.
1. CU CoPilot – Senso & CU 2.0:
Senso and CU 2.0 teamed up to help credit unions drive AI innovation firsthand. They launched a “learn-as-you-go” initiative, cultivating a crop of new use cases across multiple CU departments.
The idea is that AI can benefit every employee, from teller to CEO. This collaboration is less about keeping up with the Joneses and more about lapping them on the innovation track.
Here are 2 highlights:
- Realtime sentiment analysis in contact centers: Senso’s AI figures out what callers really want—and how they’re feeling—giving member service reps an empathetic advantage… and a sales advantage, too.
- Continuous improvement documentation: Credit unions now have intranets that are actually functional (I know, right?). Service reps can access product, policy, and procedure information as easily as searching Google. No more putting members on hold while asking the back office for details. Most importantly, your members get a MUCH better experience.
Learn more about what Senso is doing here (and join 7 other credit unions in bringing AI into every level of their culture).
2. Effectiv.AI – Fraud Detection:
Effectiv.AI is bringing AI to fraud detection. Imagine automated KYC that can spot a deepfake better than you can. Great. Now imagine knowing a check is as bogus as a three-dollar bill before it bounces—that’s some Minority Report-level foresight.
3. ALCO – Quilo:
Quilo is shaking up the asset-liability committee game with the world’s first open, AI-powered matchmaking service for loans and deposits. It’s like a dating app for financial assets, ensuring everyone finds their perfect match, with continuous rebalancing to avoid any awkward third-wheel situations. You’ll want to swipe right on this one.
4. Personalized Writing Prompts:
Hi, I’m Kirk Drake, and I’ve trained AI to write in my style. This means it’s now fluent in sarcasm, dry humor, and fintech jargon. This bespoke bot is drafting up everything from presidents’ reports to wine lists, and all I have to do is edit (or, let’s be honest, pass it to my editor).
5. Surprise Date Night Generator:
Personalized experiences? Check. The Surprise Date Night Generator cooks up date ideas like a five-star chef whipping up a tasting menu. It’s the ultimate wingman, planning evenings out ahead of time so that I don’t start my date all stressed out from the planning part.
6. Business Story and Image Generation:
At Resistance Wine Co., our marketing firm was underperforming like a dial-up connection in a fiber optic world. I turned to AI. Now, Bard, Midjourney, and ChatGPT are my ghostwriters and artists, crafting wine tales and painting digital masterpieces that tell our story better than a handful of complacent wine marketers ever did.
At CU 2.0, we’re using Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and Midjourney to help us with blog images, social media pictures, and office gags.
7. Credit Union Market Segmentation Analyzer:
At CU 2.0, we’ve built a massive internal database of credit union information. Instead of running data through the slow, expensive data analytics process, we developed a custom GPT.
Our analyzer slices and dices market data faster than Fruit Ninja. It’s also able to serve up tailored pitches and find best-fit fintech partners with alarming accuracy.
8. Credit Union AI Strategy Plan Generator:
Why spend days crafting a Credit Union AI Strategy Plan when you can have a fireside chat with CU 2.0’s Strategy Plan Generator and pop out a plan in less time than it takes to watch an episode of “Black Mirror”?
9 & 10. Use Case Generator & Chasm Crossing Analysis Prompts:
These tools are like having a marketing Swiss Army knife at your disposal. From cooking up use cases to bridging market gaps, they’re the ultimate fintech multi-tool.
Getting Started with AI at Your Credit Union
As AI digs its digital tendrils deeper into fintech, these insights paint a picture of a future that’s less Skynet and more like J.A.R.V.I.S. from Iron Man—smart, helpful, and occasionally witty.
Buckle up, folks; we’re just getting started, and if 2023 is anything to go by, the ride is only going to get wilder.
See what Senso developed with One Nevada Credit Union and Trustone Financial here:
