Bancolombia launches Facebook-based bot

Nequi, Bancolombia's fintech branch, launched a banking bot that allows users to carry out transactions through Facebook's instant messaging smartphone application.

Users must have both Nequi and Facebook accounts in order to use Eve, although a Bancolombia banking account is not required to carry out transactions, according to local dailies. Nequi provides temporary codes that allow users without a Bancolombia account to withdraw cash from the bank's ATMs.

Andrés Vásquez, director of Nequi, said the Eve robot ensures secure transactions, as every movement has to be confirmed by sending a text message to Nequi using Facebook Messenger. In addition, the system has facial and voice recognition mechanisms and requires users to enter their Nequi and Facebook passwords.

Nequi underscored that Eve has a conversation algorithm in order to better relate to users.

Although Eve is the first of its kind in Colombia, Banco Original developed a similar robot that helps clients avoid having to reach out to the bank's contact center to address common issues.

According to a study conducted by Latin-American banking federation Felaban, Colombia's digital banking penetration rate stands at 35%.

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