Artificial intelligence will help Metro Bank customers manage their money

Metro Bank is planning to offer its customers a money management service that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

This summer, the bank said it will launch a service, known as Insights, that will use AI technology from Personics to help customers manage their finances.

Available via Metro Bank’s banking app, Insights will use predictive analytics and AI to monitor transaction data and patterns in real time to identify trends in customers’ spending habits. It will then provide personalised prompts to help them control their spending.

Prompts might include information about subscriptions, alerts to unusual spending, helping customers avoid additional fees, and alerting them to large or duplicate transactions. The service will also provide spending analysis, and more featured are planned.

Metro Bank CEO Craig Donaldson said: “We’ve all been there when you forget to cancel a free trial and end up accidentally subscribing for another month, or you leave a cafe only to realise you’ve mistakenly been charged twice for the same cup of coffee.

“Insights is about being on the front foot – cutting through the noise to provide relevant and timely tips that make a real difference to customers. This is yet another example of us using technology to make people’s lives easier.”

Banks are increasingly turning to AI technology to automate customer services. This supports their digital strategies that aim to give customers more, often personalised services, and enables them to reduce their cost bases by reducing the number of people needed to provide such services.

According to recent research from consultancy GFT, more than eight out of 10 UK retail banks recognise the importance of AI to their digital transformation projects.

Metro Bank became the first new UK bank in more than 100 years when it was launched in 2010. In contrast with some of the more recent challenger banks, which have gone branchless, Metro opted for a business model that included a branch network.