Bank of Cyprus has introduced DANAI, an AI-powered digital assistant. The new service is designed to simplify customers’ day-to-day interactions with the bank. The assistant is accessible directly from the home screen of the BoC Mobile App and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users no longer need to search for the information they need in different sections of the app or contact a bank representative for every question.
You can communicate with DANAI using natural language: simply type in what you’re interested in and receive a response. The service is available in Greek and English. According to bank representatives, this new development is part of the bank’s strategy for digital transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence into banking services.
What DANAI Can Do
The new AI assistant is designed to handle everyday banking matters. At launch, it allows users to:
check bank account balances;
view recent transactions;
check details about bank cards and payments;
find your IBAN;
get information about loan products and loan payments;
learn about the bank’s services and available products;
get instructions on how to activate a new card and open an account;
block a bank card if it is lost or stolen.
If a question requires additional assistance from a staff member, DANAI will direct the user to the appropriate service channel.
However, the assistant does not provide financial advice or select banking products on the customer’s behalf. Its purpose is to provide information and help users understand the available services, while the final decision rests with the user.
Interest in the new feature was evident within the first few hours of its launch. According to the bank, more than 1,000 customers used DANAI on launch day. Representatives of the Bank of Cyprus viewed the initial user feedback positively.
How does the AI assistant work, and what changes can we expect in the future?
DANAI was developed in-house by the Bank of Cyprus team using OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs). The system combines artificial intelligence capabilities with the bank’s knowledge base, which includes information about its services and products.
Special attention was paid to the protection of banking information during development. According to the bank’s management, the system underwent verification and testing for 3–4 months prior to launch. The knowledge base on which the assistant operates is located within the bank’s infrastructure.
Yorgos Kousis, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Operations at Bank of Cyprus, noted that the launch of DANAI is the first stage of a larger-scale implementation of artificial intelligence in banking services.
Going forward, the assistant’s capabilities are planned to be expanded regularly, taking into account customer feedback and needs. Among the promising innovations is voice communication: in the future, DANAI will be able to not only respond in text but also interact with users via voice.
Mike Crosby, a representative of Avenga, also noted that the development of such technologies is changing the traditional way banks interact with customers. Avenga specializes in digital business transformation, artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, and software development.
Thus, Bank of Cyprus is taking another step toward digital banking, where some routine transactions and consultations can be handled without phone calls or branch visits.