Story by
NADI COMMODORE, ANNA MARES, MATTHEW PURUCKER, HALEY MORELAND, MEGAN TROTTER
Staff Tribune-Review
TribLive
The Tarentum resident said he's seen its efficiency through his work at a local insurance agency.
"It makes processes go quicker -- 24 hours a day as opposed to 9-5 when you have to talk to someone," he said.
Kish liked how reliable AI can be.
"There's a lack of personal touch, which can be a good thing because of language barriers as a lot of companies outsource," he said.
Kish isn't alone. Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the financial industry by storm.
Because of its extraordinary anti-fraud capabilities and its ability to free bank employees from repetitive tasks and increase accessibility to banking or investment services, companies are eager to integrate AI into their practices.
Mandell Loman, Vice President of Treasury Solutions Commercial Card Payment Consultant at Citizens Bank, explained how AI can help bank employees who already have a lot on their plate.
"We have less people, but now we're able to use artificial intelligence to do a lot of this work," Loman said.
But it's AI's ability to spot fraud that's had the biggest impact so far.
"AI doesn't eliminate fraud, but allows the system to pick up and learn how a cardholder uses their cards," Loman said. Using generative artificial intelligence, a subcategory of technology under the AI umbrella, banks can better understand the spending patterns of customers and easily identify fraudulent activity.
"It learns your behaviors and it learns 'OK, this is how Mandell typically uses his card. This is kind of within the realm of acceptable activity,'" Loman said.
The software will then, according to Loman, trigger the defenses in place and alert the bank of any unusual activity.
But those benefits come with with challenges.
"In generative AI, you have the machines making decisions. That's part of the dangerous point that you have to have governance over," said Trebor Evans, the Chief Information Security Officer at Dollar Bank.
For that reason, many people choose not to use AI to help make their financial decisions -- or at all.
"Technology has been used against us in so many ways, you just have to expect it," said Cheryl Kopaczynski of Monroeville. "There are too many people who are tech savvy and take technology too far."
This is why it's important, Evans emphasized, to have bank employees looking over AI's shoulder so they can ensure information is being kept safe.
Though AI is used in banking operations, Evans said, Dollar Bank employees are the ones managing their technology.
"(Dollar Bank) would like to use (AI), but we have to do it the right way," said Evans.
And there are those who use it the wrong way.
With the rise in AI accessibility, many banks are taking measures to fight against scammers who use AI to commit fraud.
"We have had situations before where fraudsters are calling in to try and get details about a specific individual or company credit profile so that they can increase the credit limit on the card that they got a hold of," Loman said.
Citizens Bank, like almost all others, requires specific security information about the cardholder before any changes can be made to an account.