Global collaboration brings new level of convenience to customers

LivePerson, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPSN), a leading provider of conversational commerce solutions, has announced an agreement with HSBC to bring conversational commerce to customers worldwide, allowing them to text with the bank as easily and conveniently as they text with their friends and family in messaging apps. The agreement, signed late last year, extends LivePerson’s global relationship with HSBC and will roll out in phases across 14 markets in EMEA, North America, LATAM and APAC, eventually becoming available to over 30 million customers around the world.

Conversational commerce and AI is a key part of HSBC’s digital transformation plan, and offers customers a “zero learning curve” experience – no complex interface to navigate – where they can simply message in natural language with HSBC, to ask questions and get service on their own terms and timetable. With a plan to offer conversational banking across all divisions, including Retail Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC aims to allow a more seamless customer experience across all channels when interacting with the bank.

Consumer preference and research shows a clear wish among consumers to talk with brands using messaging and chat – the same convenient way they talk with friends and family from their smartphones. This preference is consistent in all markets, so HSBC will deploy the solution worldwide. The first rollout of ‘Mobile Chat’ is already underway in the UK, with further rollout plans to be announced by region during 2018 and beyond.

As well as the convenience, simplicity and popularity of messaging with consumers, organizations that use messaging and AI to connect with consumers have seen significant business benefits, including higher satisfaction scores both for customer and contact centre staff, improved operational efficiencies and doubling of agent productivity compared to voice calls.

“At HSBC we believe our customers should be able to bank with us when they want, how they want and an increasing number choose to use digital channels as a convenient way to interact with us,” said Warren Buckley, global head of contact centers at HSBC. “This new technology allows our customers to start a conversation with us on one channel, for example in our contact centres and continue where they left off, be that via messaging on their mobile app or online via our website, saving them valuable time. We will continue to adapt our services as our customers’ needs change, to provide banking services on their terms.”

“We’re excited to see one of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, moving forward with conversational commerce and AI at this scale,” said Robert LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson. “Consumers want simple and convenient customer service, and by offering the ability to message them anytime, instead of calling, HSBC is delivering exactly that. I’m looking forward to innovating together to deliver conversational banking, and the best possible experience for HSBC customers.”