[Column] "Financial Sector AI Call Center Spinning Needs Improvement"

"Even healthy people end up with high blood pressure."

"Elderly people cannot handle tasks no matter how many times they try."

"You only get connected to a counselor when you are about to explode."

"What is the Financial Supervisory Service doing?"

These are the reactions from readers to our special report on the 'Spinning AI Call Center.' It clearly shows how much frustration financial consumers have accumulated regarding AI counselors.

Around 2019, major domestic credit card companies and banks changed their systems to prioritize AI counselors in customer service. Despite investing hundreds of billions of won and advancing the technology, smooth consultations like those with human counselors are still far from reality, and even problem resolution remains difficult.

Moreover, as AI adoption has been used as a reason to reduce human counselor staff, financial consumers face the hardship of spending more time trying to connect with human counselors. Elderly people, who are vulnerable to digital technology, often have to ask for help from those around them or give up on resolving their issues altogether. Counselors themselves also suffer from handling calls from customers who are furious after wasting time with AI consultations.

Of course, AI adoption is an unavoidable issue across all industries. However, if everyone is experiencing inconvenience due to AI, urgent improvements must be made. This is especially important in the financial sector, where offline branches are decreasing and digital finance is spreading, making non-face-to-face service competitiveness crucial for financial companies.

There is also a significant possibility that customers will switch to competitors due to AI consultation problems. A survey of 500 adults nationwide (aged 19 to 69) showed that nearly half of those in their 30s and 40s said they would consider changing financial companies because of discomfort with AI services.

Although financial companies are advancing AI, consumers still prefer human counselors. When asked what is most needed at financial company call centers (multiple answers allowed), 64.6% of respondents said "reducing the time required to reach a human counselor," the highest percentage. Instead of focusing solely on cost reduction through AI, a long-term approach is necessary.

The Financial Supervisory Service must also maintain continuous interest. Recently, as this issue became prominent, the FSS Fair Finance Promotion Committee decided to improve procedures so that elderly customers can easily communicate with human counselors in addition to AI consultations when using financial company call centers. It is necessary to consider system improvements to ensure smooth consultations for all customers, not just the elderly.

Financial company call centers are always in a blind spot. Unlike branches, they mainly handle "aftercare" tasks, and most call center employees are often "non-affiliated workers." However, call centers are the most frequently used communication channels by customers and can significantly impact the image of financial companies. There is a saying, "Stopping with a hoe what could have been stopped with a rake." Financial companies should not treat consumers' anger as mere trial and error with AI but should carefully examine the issue.