NAB launches MLC virtual assistant to help consumers with super

NAB has expanded its investment into voice-based interaction with customers with the launch of a new MLC superannuation virtual assistant for Google Home devices.

The financial services giant said the aim of the new virtual assistant is to better engage Australians with their superannuation. The assistant has been programmed to answer the 15 most common questions people ask MLC, such as how to open an account, change investment options and find lost super.

MLC customer experience specialist, Peter Forster, said it was clear customers wanted more information, education and transparency around their finances, and said he believed virtual assistants will play a major role in delivering this.

“Speaking to your super fund means getting to know and grow your super more easily, quickly and conveniently, and that has the potential to help millions of Aussies,” he said.

“In the near future, we’ll be able to help people with personalised tips to boost their super, give projections of where their super will be at retirement, and speak to them about how investing their money in super instead of spending it, could add up.”

MLC said it expected millennials as well as older Australians to be among the first users of ‘Talk to MLC’. The company also plans to launch the technology via mobile phones. The technology took about six weeks to develop and deploy.

NAB claimed to be the first Australian bank to launch a Google Assistant app when it launched last October, and since then, debuted localised skills for the rival Amazon Alexa device upon its launch in Australian in February.

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