LONDON (Reuters) - NatWest ( NWG ) and OpenAI have joined forces to enhance the lender's digital assistants and customer support processes using artificial intelligence, in the first collaboration of its kind with a UK-headquartered bank.

The lender has put AI at the heart of key strategies to improve customer experience, cut costs and play its part to reduce the sums lost to financial fraud across the industry.

Under terms of the agreement, NatWest ( NWG ) will have access to all OpenAI products and secure early visibility and access to the AI group's product pipeline, as well as bespoke consultancy and executive input.

In one of more than 275 AI projects the bank is exploring, NatWest ( NWG ) wants to harness Open AI's technology to ramp up the capabilities of its customer-facing chatbot Cora and its virtual assistant for staff, AskArchie.

At present, the majority of customers prefer to report suspected fraud by phone, a preference NatWest ( NWG ) is hoping to reverse using generative AI.

In the first half of 2024, just over 570 million pounds ($740 million) was stolen in payment fraud in Britain, with scammers deploying increasingly creative ways to trap victims, data from UK Finance shows.

By streamlining the process of reporting suspected fraud using Cora, NatWest ( NWG ) aims to secure vulnerable accounts faster and free up call handlers to deal with other customer needs.

NatWest ( NWG ) also believes its AI-powered digital assistants may help customers better understand their finances, which could help them plan better.

"AI is already playing a vital role in our digital transformation; helping colleagues across the bank to serve customers in a more personalised and productive way," NatWest Group ( NWG ) Chief Information Officer Scott Marcar said.

The GenAI functionality offered by Cora has helped to drive a 150% improvement in customer satisfaction levels and reduce the number of times a human adviser is called on to complete the request, the bank said.  

"Around 80% of our retail customers bank with us entirely digitally, which is why continually innovating to deliver the best digital experience possible is a non-negotiable," NatWest's ( NWG ) retail banking CEO Angela Byrne said.

OpenAI was co-founded by Sam Altman and Elon Musk in 2015 with a vision to develop AI for the good of humanity rather than corporate profit.

The firm is now trying to transition into a for-profit entity, which it says is required to secure the capital needed for developing the best AI models.

($1 = 0.7698 pounds)