Sarah Welch, managing director of personalization for Curinos, a technology and analytics company, emphasizes how emotionally charged financial decision-making can become. “Your finances are at the heart of security and your ability to live well,” she says. “Its importance is very, very high. It is emotionally fraught. We have all grown up with different meanings around finance. For some it’s straightforward; for some, it’s a sport. For some, it’s something they don’t want to think about.”
Bankers’ efforts to understand what drives customers’ decision-making can benefit from AI-driven technology, which has tremendous power to spot patterns and personalize offers. But bankers and industry observers agree that the real AI magic occurs when banks combine technology with the personal touch.
“Data provides rich contextual information about where a customer is, but it’s not exhaustive,” Welch says. “You’re not going to find out what emotional context a person brings to money or what goals they care about.
