Media Release: Westpac NZ works with Aider to better serve SMEs
Bringing human-centric AI and digital assistance to the SME banking experience.
Media release: 23 May 2019
Auckland-based artificial intelligence software company, Aider, is working with Westpac NZ to provide conversational digital assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The collaboration with Westpac’s Digital Ventures team is aimed at helping business owners make fast, data-led decisions to improve their efficiency and bottom line. There is also a customer service benefit for Westpac’s 85,000 SME customers, who can use Aider’s “Contact Me” function if they need to speak with a bank representative.
“We see great value in being able to introduce SMEs to artificial intelligence in an easily-consumed format.”– Lewis Billinghurst, Westpac NZ Head of Digital Ventures
“We believe in human-centric AI and created Aider to give small business owners easy access to the information they need to make better business decisions,” says Aider Co-Founder, Pete Weaver.
“With the Aider app, you simply ask for what you want – whether it’s your total expenditure for the last week or your top selling products for the day – and get instant access to the data you need.
“Banking relationships are critical to SMEs and we look forward to working more with Westpac to help serve their customers.”
Aider is available to anyone in Australia and New Zealand via the Google Play and Apple App stores. A free three-month trial will be available to Westpac NZ customers.
Westpac NZ Head of Digital Ventures, Lewis Billinghurst, says SMEs make up 97 per cent of businesses in New Zealand, yet this market is often under-served and under-informed.
“We see great value in being able to introduce SMEs to artificial intelligence in an easily-consumed format,” he says
“The team at Aider have a compelling vision and we’re pleased to work with them to help our mutual customers grow their businesses.”
Aider currently targets the retail and hospitality market in Australasia, with plans to expand to different industries and locations.
As artificial intelligence continues to progress, the Aider team could eventually use its machine learning technology to train Aider to answer questions important to Westpac customers.
For more information, please contact:
Kari Viccars
Head of Marketing, Aider
+64 21 086 12262
kari@aider.ai
Max Bania
Westpac NZ Media Relations Manager
+64 27 549 9659
max.bania@westpac.co.nz
About Aider
Co-founded in Auckland in 2017 by Brendan Roberts and Pete Weaver, Aider is a mobile, digital assistant for smarter business.
Connecting to the apps SMEs use to run their businesses, Aider delivers easy access to answers, all from one place. Business app connections include: point of sale, accounting, payroll, rostering, online calendar, social media, analytics.
The Aider ecosystem includes Xero, QuickBooks Online, Kounta, Vend, Twitter and Google Analytics and many more.
Using Aider’s mobile app, questions are asked by typing, voice-to-text or speaking through a voice assistant, like Alexa or Google Assistant.
Aider can answer hundreds of questions a business owner might have, including:
- “Hey Aider, how much revenue did I make this week?”
- “Who showed up for work today?”
- “Aider, get someone at Westpac to contact me” (coming soon)
- “How many Uber Eats sales have I made this month?”
- “What were my top selling products today?”
Constantly learning and growing its knowledge base, Aider can also schedule notifications, put reminders in the user’s calendar, and will deliver trends analysis and benchmarking.
Aider also provides “built in” connections to weather, events and news apps.
Key Benefits:
- Immediate, easy access to business information in one place accessible simply by asking a question in natural language.
- Enables fast, data-led decisions
- Aider proactively provides actionable insights based on custom business data
- Users can take action directly from Aider to improve their business
- Growing list of business and built-in app connections
A subscription service, Aider offers Westpac customers a 90-day free trial and is $39.99 NZD/ month from there on (early access pricing).
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