It has been a busy year for Clinc, the fintech startup based in Ann Arbor, MI.
The company, which has developed a conversational artificial intelligence platform for financial institutions called Finie, has raised more than $6 million in a Series A round; embarked on a successful pilot project with USAA, the bank serving members of the U.S. military; and won best in show earlier this month at American Banker’s BankAI conference.
Last week, at the Money 20/20 conference, Clinc hit another milestone with the announcement that it will partner with Isbank, the largest private bank in Turkey, to bring its technology to the institution’s more than 5.5 million users. Emma Furlong, Clinc’s head of strategy, says that Finie has now been deployed in 80 languages across six countries.
“We’ve found a lot of success with international institutions—they’re quick to implement innovations,” Furlong says of the deal with Isbank.
Isbank also presented an “excellent opportunity” for Clinc to get its technology in front of a large number of people, she says. “In the U.S., fintech is often deployed one channel at a time,” Furlong explains. “Isbank appealed to us because we want get to market quickly, and they want a full deployment across multiple channels.”
Finie differs from other A.I.-powered chatbots because it’s not bound by rules or commands. Instead, it relies on deep neural networks, natural language processing, and machine learning to emulate human intelligence. Clinc co-founder Jason Mars calls the company’s platform “the financial industry’s only truly conversational, non-chatbot A.I.” Clinc’s A.I. can be integrated into any channel, Furlong adds, whether it’s a bank’s native mobile banking or wallet payment app, Alexa, Google, or Facebook Messenger.
Clinc says Isbank is now the first global financial institution to offer conversational A.I. in multiple languages. Isbank plans to integrate Clinc’s technology into its two mobile apps, allowing users to access a voice-activated intelligent personal assistant that can answer financial questions, offer personalized spending advice, and complete banking tasks. Its mobile wallet payment app will allow customers to make in-store payments as well as transfer and send money.
In 2018, Clinc plans to keep pushing forward with new partnerships, adding functionality and improving the user experience, Furlong says.
“Finie understands nuance, and that’s how we differ from other U.S. vendors,” she adds. “We have an infrastructure that’s really scalable, and it’s scalable across languages as well as users and channels. And the way our A.I. learns sets us apart from everyone else in the market.”
