As part of its financial inclusion strategy, U.S. Bank has become the first bank in the United States to offer a mobile application with a Spanish voice assistant, a tool with which they hope to make digital banking easier and more accessible for Latino consumers.

From U.S. Bank they point out:

Asistente Inteligente is the first Spanish language virtual assistant of its kind in the United States, offering Spanish-speaking customers the very best digital banking tools from U.S. Bank. 

According to the United States Census Bureau, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the country and is used by more than 13% of the population, figures that the U.S. Bank took into account when developing the application.

“Asistente Inteligente”

The U.S. Bank Asistente Inteligente™, the Spanish version of its Smart Assistant, one of only two banking voice assistants to receive the highest rating of “Excellent” by Corporate Insight, has the same features and functions as the English version.

Dominic Venturo, chief digital officer at U.S. Bank, pointed out that among the different things that users can do through this application, operations such as balance and transaction verification, fund transfer, credit score monitoring, card blocking and unblocking, stand out, as well as the possibility to make payments and other functions simply by speaking in Spanish through smartphones. If any user prefer to text instead of talk, the Smart Assistant allows them do that too.

Through this new digital tool, U.S. Bank remains true to its commitment to putting the customer experience first, in this case a diverse user looking to build wealth and perform bank operations safely and inclusively.

“Translation apps sometimes struggle to decipher words with more than one meaning, such as ‘balance’ – are we talking about your equilibrium or how much money is in your account? Our software engineers solved for that through a hybrid approach using smart technology, natural language processing and real-time interpretation,” said Richard Weeks, head of conversational experiences and capabilities at U.S. Bank.

App Development 

According to an MRI-Simmons' National Consumer Study highlighted by the U.S. Bank, "service in Spanish is Hispanic customers’ second-highest priority when choosing a bank, behind only branch location.”

“When it comes to digital banking, mobile devices play a larger role for Hispanic adults compared with white adults. A quarter of Hispanics are “smartphone-only” internet users – meaning they own a smartphone but don’t have traditional home broadband services, according to a Pew Research Center survey. That is compared with just 12% of white adults and 17% of Black adults,” it is pointed out from this important financial institution.

Ramiro Padilla Klein, U.S. Bank vice president for Hispanic segment strategy, said: “Sometimes language can be a barrier to accessing best-in-class financial services, and U.S. Bank is focused on eliminating barriers.”

Likewise, Padilla Klein emphasized the innovative and pioneering technology used by this financial tool, underlining that Hispanic Americans consider it especially valuable.