The Diamond Bank ADA is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbot personal banker that was launched in March, 2018. As at the time of this launch, many Nigerians had begun to have an idea of what was to be expected of an AI chatbot, owing to the earlier launch of UBA’s personal banker chatbot, LEO.
Pardon me if I say that my expectations for the Diamond Bank ADA is quite high and this is why. Diamond Bank is centered around cutting edge technology, as witnessed in the success and upgrades of their banking mobile app. I believe that the same should apply to the Diamond Bank ADA. With over 15 million customers, Diamond Bank prides itself on being the largest retail bank and has created ADA to make banking much easier for its customers.
The ADA personal banker gives you a personal experience with features such as check stock market, check weather forecast, funds transfer, open new account, provide loans, etc. I was excited to try it out and I’d be sharing my experience with you but first, the basics.
The ADA personal banker is presented to be a cheerful looking accommodating lady, willing to assist you in the course of your banking requests, thus giving you a memorable experience with Diamond Bank. This image of her is found on the official page of >Diamond ADA on Facebook. ADA personal banker operates on the Facebook chat Messenger.
A very distinct feature I noticed was that while on the web page of Diamond Ada, she had already picked up my identity though I wasn’t even on Facebook yet. It was uncanny. By the time I was on Facebook and headed to my messenger, she had already integrated me.
User Experience
Like I earlier mentioned, I was already on a first-name basis with the ADA personal banker when I eventually turned my Facebook Messenger on. My first time inquiries were done without being asked if I had an account with Diamond Bank.
At this point, even non account holders can engage with ADA to get a feel of the user experience before making up their minds to go further by opening an account with Diamond Bank and availing themselves of the services therein. This for me is a brilliant marketing move for getting even more customers without appearing obvious.
The first feature I was interested in was the loan option. I was disappointed as ADA directed me elsewhere to visit a site to know more or make a call to the number provided. My view is this: if ADA is not equipped to handle loans, then that should not be part of the features in the first place. It’s that simple. Something should be done about this.
I enjoyed myself using the stock market option; note that I had still not indicated if I was an account holder or not? These are absolutely free options without any burden on you whatsoever. The stock market option was without any issues and straight forward. You can spend hours there and even use it as a source for research. Call it an extension of a financial database or Google. I would give a 5 star rating to this feature.
Time spent on the check weather forecast left me feeling dissatisfied. When asked to put in the city I wanted and I did, ADA gave me the actual weather for my city. But my idea of a forecast is telling you what you do not know already, right? That was where the feature fell short. I asked for a comprehensive weather for the day and got nothing. Instead, ADA promptly redirected me to the initial menu.
Moving on to the Funds transfer feature, I selected the option and it took a bit of time getting used to the ADA way of functioning. I am an account holder with Diamond bank so what I did initially was indicate that I wanted to transfer funds to Diamond Bank and then ADA asked me ‘what product?’ That, I did not understand. I was almost giving up till I went to the main menu and I saw that to make a Diamond to Diamond transfer meant indicating the product, ‘Funds transfer within’. After this it was very easy; you are asked to provide your Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN) which you do if you are already an account holder but, you still have to register it on the ADA Platform — a bit tasking if you ask me. If you do not own an account, it is only then that ADA suggests you open an account with Diamond Bank.
Conclusion
The ADA is an exciting new addition to the numerous products of Diamond Bank. I like the idea. But the features need to be simplified. A good thing about it is being able to use ADA without being mandated to provide your account details or create a new account until when absolutely necessary.
I still think the stock market option, can be improved upon and the weather forecast needs a lot of work done. Also, if ADA is not equipped to handle loans, then that feature should not be added at all. I feel it de-emphasizes the capacity of the Diamond Bank ADA Personal Banker.
Gave me UBA stock price as 10.50 and DBN as 1.43 as against 9.30 and 1.26 which both tickers are currently trading today.