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Lender to trial virtual sales assistants

by James Mitchell10 minute read
Lender to trial virtual sales assistants

An ASX-listed marketplace lender with an extensive broker footprint has announced that it will trial a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform.

DirectMoney will commence a six-month paid trial of Cre8tek’s Flamingo platform in the second quarter of this year. The Flamingo platform, constituting the Cognitive Virtual Sales Assistant, ‘Rosie’ and the Journey Assist™ platform, will be used by DirectMoney to trial guiding customers through an unsecured personal loan application.

“We are thrilled to be working with another exciting technology company such as DirectMoney, who are passionate about utilising cutting-edge technology to provide better financial outcomes for Australians,” Cre8tek CEO and Flamingo founder Dr Catriona Wallace said.

“DirectMoney will trial our platform in order to provide their customers with a market-leading customer experience, ultimately aimed at driving an increased online sales conversion rate,” she said.

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“This new paid trial underlines the increasing interest in the Flamingo platform across the Australian market. We continue to effectively execute our sales strategy across our primary geographies of North America and Asia Pacific and work towards converting our pipeline of opportunities from paid trials to monthly recurring revenue subscription contracts.”

DirectMoney generated revenue of $1.2 million during the financial year to 30 June 2016, an increase of 171 per cent compared to the prior corresponding period.

The group said it engaged with approximately 9,500 unsecured personal loan applicants during the year and wrote $11.2 million of new unsecured personal loans.

Chief executive at the time Peter Beaumont explained that the increase in revenue is linked largely to an increase in the group’s loan volume which grew by 77 per cent.

“Of that loan volume, 50 per cent came from the broker channel which continues to be an important part of our business strategy,” he said.

Mr Beaumont elaborated that the growth in loan originations reflects the work the group has done with the broker channel.

Last year DirectMoney appointed former Prospa COO Anthony Nantes as chief executive officer, replacing Peter Beaumont, who continues with the lender as chief operating officer.

Former Aussie Home Loans CEO Stephen Porges resigned as a director in November 2016.

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James Mitchell

AUTHOR

James Mitchell has over eight years’ experience as a financial reporter and is the editor of Wealth and Wellness at Momentum Media.

He has a sound pedigree to cover the business of mortgages and the converging financial services sector having reported for leading finance titles InvestorDaily, InvestorWeekly, Accountants Daily, ifa, Mortgage Business, Residential Property Manager, Real Estate Business, SMSF Adviser, Smart Property Investment, and The Adviser.

He has also been published in The Daily Telegraph and contributed online to FST Media and Mergermarket, part of the Financial Times Group.

James holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature and an MA in Journalism.

 

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