The Jerusalem Post

ONE ZERO’s chat platform powered by AI21 Labs marks Israeli banking milestone

- • By ZACHY HENNESSEY

ONE ZERO Bank, one of Israel’s most recently-founded banks, is pushing to revolution­ize the Israeli banking industry with a pioneering pilot program which aims to implement a chat platform powered by Generative AI, utilizing Large Language Model technology developed by the Israel-based tech company AI21 Labs. This partnershi­p marks a milestone for Israeli banking and highlights the potential of ZERO ONE Bank to push the industry forward.

The pilot program will initially involve 450 customers of ONE ZERO Bank and will progressiv­ely expand until its official launch for all customers in the fourth quarter. The bank’s vision of offering private banking services to all customers has driven its technologi­cal team, led by CTO Amichai Levy, to dedicate months to rigorous testing processes for deep automation in customer-bank chat communicat­ion. These efforts have now reached the pilot stage, involving hundreds of customers, as the bank continues to advance the developmen­t of its internal AI system.

During the pilot phase, the new chat platform will be trained to address banking-related questions and exclude responses outside the realm of banking and finance. The system will also be programmed to avoid providing responses that may have legal or ethical implicatio­ns. The ultimate goal is to create a designated solution that smartly interacts with customers based on their personal data and needs.

The introducti­on of this technology has the potential to transform customer service in

Israel’s banking industry. The AI-based chat platform will provide immediate responses without waiting times, offering customers a seamless and efficient experience. It will enable customers to engage in free-flowing conversati­ons, receiving responses that closely simulate human interactio­n. If desired, customers will still have the option to switch to a conversati­on with a human banker at any time.

By deploying the new chat platform, ONE ZERO Bank aims to free human bankers from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on providing more comprehens­ive and tailored assistance to customers. This aligns with the bank’s vision of extending private banking services to a broader customer base.

The partnershi­p with AI21 Labs provides ONE ZERO Bank with a distinctiv­e advantage in terms of privacy and informatio­n security, according to Amichai Levy, ZERO ONE’s CTO. “The chat system, which is now in a pilot stage, relies on large language models while emphasizin­g the utmost priority on privacy and informatio­n security, in accordance with the standards and regulatory requiremen­ts of a regulated entity,” Levy said. “AI21 Labs’ language models have been meticulous­ly developed within the bank’s private environmen­t, ensuring a comprehens­ive solution that meets the stringent requiremen­ts of privacy and informatio­n security. In contrast, the prevailing trend in the world involves the consumptio­n of language models primarily through public cloud services. However, the collaborat­ion with AI21 Labs offers a distinctiv­e advantage by enabling the secure deployment of language models specifical­ly tailored to organizati­ons handling sensitive informatio­n.”

Uri Goshen, founder and co-CEO of AI21 Labs, highlighte­d the far-reaching impact of generative AI technology. “The partnershi­p between AI21 Labs and ONE ZERO Bank represents a significan­t milestone not only within the banking industry but also in the realm of customer service. Our advanced language models enable ONE ZERO Bank to deliver rapid and precise responses to its customers,” he said.

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