Bank of America’s digital investment product, Merrill Edge, has seen their assets under management grow with the help of branches to serve clients; Merrill Lynch has plans to add 600 new investment centers within Bank of America branches to help with this strategy; the combination of using technology and human advice for high net worth clients is a growing trend among bigger banks as they compete with new robo entrants. Source.
Bank of America is testing three automated branches in Denver and Minneapolis in an effort to lower branch banking costs; the automated branches will focus their service around automated teller machines and video conferencing; the firm's CEO Brian Moynihan has been focused on reducing costs with a specific focus on lowering branch costs while increasing investment in mobile and digital technologies. Source
Regulators and politicians have been pressuring banks on the fees. Other firms such as JPMorgan and Ally Financial have already announced changes.
Bank of America says it will invest $1.5 million in a Charlotte fintech initiative over the next three years; the investment is the first for the city from a financial services company; regarding the investment, Cathy Bessant, Bank of America's chief operations and technology officer, said: "Charlotte has proven to be a place where a sustainable company can be founded, emerge and grow. Fintech is a significant, new opportunity for Charlotte that connects our strong finance and technology infrastructure with innovatively minded people, creating tech jobs and new paths to economic mobility."; Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts is expected to publicly announce more details on the initiative in the next few months. Source
Bank of America’s latest product, Life Plan, aims to make the bank the a central guiding force for their customers...
Person to person payments growth was about 67% and accounted for 13.6 million transactions; According to CEO Brian Moynihan the bank processed half a billion dollars in a single week; other banks including Wells Fargo are also reporting increases in person to person payments; Bank of America is also planning to release a mobile offering for auto and home loans along with its AI assistant; Bank of America spent $2.25 billion on tech initiatives in the first nine months of 2017. Source
Bank of America hopes that focusing on digital banking engagement with new products, services and channels will lead to greater market share.
The bank’s unified digital plans include personalization and a customized mobile dashboard encompassing all the business a customer does with BofA.
Bank of America’s AI powered digital assistant Erica has now reached more than 7 million users with over 50 million...
Business Insider reports on the success of Bank of America’s investment in digital channels; reports that they added about 2 million users to digital channels, predominantly to mobile; mobile channel usage rose 34% year over year; article also compares active mobile users across competing banks Wells Fargo and JP Morgan. Source