Aurore Gaspar, Deputy Head of SOCIETE GENERALE French retail banking network at the Adopt AI Summit – AI for finance in retail bank

AI has a critical role in enhancing client satisfaction and operational efficiency in retail banking. Aurore Gaspar highlighted the industry’s evolution in response to intense competition from traditional banks, neo banks, and new entrants in the payments sector, as well as stringent regulatory requirements. The key challenge is industrialising AI solutions to make them transformative in the banking sector. Additionally, there are stringent regulatory requirements related to capital, risk, data, and ESG. Clients now demand more efficiency, expertise, and responsible investment options from banks.

Société Générale launched the Vision 2025 program, starting with the merger of Credit du Nord and Societe Generale’s retail banks in France. This new platform serves 9 million clients, aiming to improve client satisfaction and profitability offering personalised banking experiences through various channels, including digital, remote, and face-to-face interactions and leveraging AI. A unique data team was created to unify governance and usage of data across marketing, finance, and risk. The goal is to prioritise AI use cases by value, with a target of generating 500 million EUR in value by 2026.

“In this program – Vision 2025 – we have designed a new bank […] where we want to address clients through different channels, the whole purpose of the bank is to let the client choose the channel he wants to use.
And of course, AI is key to deliver both satisfaction client and profitability.”

Aurore Gaspar, Deputy Head of Société Générale French retail banking network

The deployment of AI in Société Générale is organised around creating value and enhancing commercial productivity. AI is used to determine client needs and push relevant opportunities through various channels, including email, notifications, and relationship managers. Digital journeys of clients are monitored to provide timely assistance and improve sales conversions. Societe Generale’s AI use cases include automating credit applications, managing succession processes, and improving credit scoring. These applications enhance operational efficiency and reduce manual efforts in back-office tasks.

Emphasizing the need for the industrialization of AI solutions to transform them into game changers, Gaspar noted the challenges of scaling AI applications across large networks like Société Générale’s, which employs 20,000 relationship managers. She mentioned experimenting with AI tools to expedite information retrieval and improve customer service responsiveness.

Societe Generale prioritises two GenAI use cases: improving the efficiency of relationship managers by streamlining information search, and enhancing client servicing through chatbots and callbots to handle large volumes of interactions efficiently.

AI adoption is essential for Societe Generale to transform its business model. The focus is on implementing and utilising AI solutions effectively to create significant value and enhance both client satisfaction and operational efficiency.

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