First National Bank (FNB), a financial institution operating in South Africa, is testing an internal artificial intelligence platform designed to support financial advisors with planning, analysis, and administrative work as banks expand the use of AI inside customer facing operations.
The platform, currently in pilot phase, combines AI capabilities with financial planning calculators and advisor tools used during client engagements. According to FNB, the objective is to reduce time spent on administrative processes while allowing advisors to manage more client interactions using shared planning systems.
Keshani Ganasen, integrated advice CEO at FNB, said the project is part of a broader effort to create consistent advice experiences regardless of whether customers interact through digital services or human advisors.
“We believe trust is largely built on two things: competence and consistency,” said Ganasen. “At the heart of our approach is a shared advice platform that powers both customer-facing financial planning tools and the systems used internally by advisors. The goal is not to replace advisors but to allow them to focus on building client relationships and delivering better financial outcomes.”
The initiative follows the launch of My Advisor, FNB’s digital financial guidance tool intended to help customers manage finances during periods of economic pressure. According to the bank, the same retirement and financial planning calculations available inside customer facing applications are also used internally by advisors.
“The tools that are being used by the advisor, the calculations are actually the same calculations you will get if you go into our retirement and personal finance tool today,” she explained. “It’s to build consistency. The answer is always the same. That’s fundamental for us because we want to build consistency in outcomes.”
While advisors use the same underlying calculations as customers, FNB says the intention is for human advisors to continue applying professional judgment during client interactions.
“Our advisors are skilled and experienced and they are there to use their judgement to be able to understand who the client is – something that technology couldn’t do, and you are actually looking for a human to understand.
“With that, what we try to do is make sure they are also able to use their own analysis and discretion to offer clients the best professional advice, while freeing up capacity so they don’t have to worry about the paperwork and all of that.”
Financial institutions globally are deploying AI tools to support tasks surrounding customer interactions, including meeting summaries, conversation transcription, follow up communications, client documentation, portfolio analysis, cash flow modelling, and investment risk assessment. FNB says its own platform currently supports a limited set of functions during testing but is expected to expand over time.
The bank has not disclosed the platform name but said the system combines internally developed capabilities with third party technologies. According to Ganasen, the platform was designed to address operational requirements around speed, scale, and efficiency before a broader rollout.
“It’s developed by a combination of vendors and bespoke internal builds, with the aim to solve the need for speed, scale and efficiency. In time it will be performing a wider range of tasks and, at the right time, we will officially roll it out.”
