Japan's Financial Services Agency to develop AI agent for regional banks to handle customer service

The Financial Services Agency has entrusted the Financial Data Utilization Association (FDUA), an industry group of around 440 companies, to develop an original AI model for regional banks.

The FDUA plans to build a conversational AI agent that can handle a wide range of customer inquiries, then conduct empirical research on regional banks using AI models in customer-facing services.

The initiative aims to improve customer convenience and reduce the workload of bank employees, particularly in rural areas where banks tend to be understaffed.