Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has announced the development of an Artificial Intelligence chatbot that will answer customer questions over Japanese messaging app Line.

The chatbot which is being developed with telcom firm NTT Comm and Accenture, will be available to SMBC Nikko Securities customers later this month.

The first steps will be to provide guidance on ways to open accounts as well as on initial public offerings (IPO's0, Nippon Individual Savings Accounts, and other issues.

As enquiries and answers expand, the parameters of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot will also expand to include things like share price inquiries and investment trust selection.

AI's Quickly Growing Influence

Earlier this week in an interview with finews.asia Aditya Gupta, head of E-Business at OCBC, discussed the growing influence of AI.

In mortgage lending, an artificial intelligence chatbot recently began advising OCBC clients. Mobile clients can also enable payments and transfers through voice-recognition technology on their smartphone. 

The Singapore based bank with business in China, Malaysia and Indonesia has also started a robo-advisor pilot project with its wealth management clients.