Ant Dureau, chief client officer at AMP told Adviser Innovation the purpose of AMP’s bot was to communicate with and help clients and the wider Australian community in ways that best suit them.
For many this was through social media channels such as Facebook, he said.
“We hope to share AMP’s expertise and help them with their personal finances by providing access to a range of relevant and informative content, which is particularly important in challenging periods like we’re currently experiencing,” Mr Dureau said.
Mr Dureau said that social media was also useful for advisers to encourage discussion and interaction, which helps people to feel empowered and motivated to seek out answers.
“The Messenger bot has allowed us to reach out to an even broader audience. It has also given us a better understanding of how the pandemic is impacting Australians and through that helped us further refine the information and resources on our COVID-19 Help Hub,” Mr Dureau said.
Mr Dureau told Adviser Innovation that AMP’s advisers were also making use of the digital help hub to better connect with their clients.
“We’ve provided advisers in the AMP network with a suite of dedicated resources and tools to help them advise their clients through COVID-19, particularly in key areas such as early access to superannuation,” Mr Dureau said.
Although the COVID-19 Help Hub is a consumer-orientated site, Mr Dureau thinks it will be a very important first step on the advice journey for many people and create a connection between adviser and client.
“People who understand their own financial situation more clearly and the options that are available to them are more likely to seek out professional advice and we think the Hub makes an important contribution to that,” he said.
“People also have the option of calling an AMP representative if they wish to go further after using the Hub.”
With highest engagement recorded from Austrlians over-60s, Mr Dureau said this disproved the notion older people were uncomfortable using technology to seek answers and help.
“The most selected topic via the bot has been help for those suffering financial hardship, showing the impact the downturn in financial markets is having on retirees who rely on their investments for income,” Mr Dureau said.
The most visited pages for types of advice on the help hub included early access to superannuation and coronavirus retiree stimulus packages for individuals.
Users who interacted with the service were asked a series of questions and then were directed to information they needed on AMP’s COVID-19 Help Hub, based on the answers provided.
The hub could be used by AMP or non-AMP customers and contained information on managing different financial situations, topical articles and guides.
“We’ve made available a range of guides and information resources to help people find the answers they need to manage through the crisis,” Mr Dureau said.
“We encourage Australians in difficulty to take advantage of AMP’s COVID-19 Help Hub and also to give us a call if they need further assistance.”
The same people that will happily download a virus are using the AMP bot. What does that tell you?