FairPlay , a Fairness-as-a-Service company , has announced a customer relationship with Chime , a financial technology platform founded on the belief that everyday people deserve access to helpful , transparent and fair banking services to ‘ unlock financial progress ’.

Chime will implement FairPlay ’ s solutions in the underwriting models powering the financial products available through its platform . This will enable Chime to address more members ’ core needs : namely accessing short-term liquidity and building credit . Founded in 2020 , FairPlay works with financial services companies to provide real-time fairness testing , monitoring and optimisation solutions that identify blind spots in algorithms and provide automated ‘ second-looks ’ to improve the decisioning systems impacting people ’ s lives . FairPlay ’ s tools are designed to drive growth , reduce risk , keep pace with ever-evolving regulatory requirements and improve positive outcomes for consumers .

“ Chime continues to disrupt the status quo in financial services for the benefit of everyday Americans . Partnering with FairPlay is consistent with that ethos , as it helps address the systemic biases pervasive in certain technologies . Leveraging the use of this innovative technology will enable us to serve more members and address their most pressing financial needs ,” said Xiongwen Rui , Chief Risk Officer , Chime .

“ FairPlay tools get models into production faster and more responsibly by automating fairness testing , monitoring model biases and identifying opportunities to be fairer within one ’ s risk tolerance ,” said Kareem Saleh , Founder and CEO of FairPlay . “ Chime is a leader in using technology to increase financial access and liquidity for millions of Americans . We ’ re pleased to help Chime in its mission to deliver better , fairer financial products .”

Cora supports customers in answering banking queries 24 / 7 through natural language processing and Machine Learning capabilities . In 2023 , the digital assistant helped customers with 10.8 million queries in their day-to-day banking needs , an increase from just over 5 million in 2019 .

Cora + will build on current capabilities into an intelligent virtual agent that uses Generative AI to provide more intuitive , conversational customer experiences . This will initially be introduced as a 12-week pilot to address learnings and updates , to be fully rolled out at a later date .

Cora + integrates information from multiple secure sources , consolidating diverse bank products and services . Collaborating with IBM ’ s Client Engineering team , NatWest has enhanced Cora into a more intelligent , interactive digital assistant . This evolution empowers Cora + with advanced AI capabilities , enabling natural , conversational interactions and personalised responses . Benefits for NatWest customers include improved conversational AI for intuitive queries and direct access to relevant information . Cora + anticipates customer needs based on past interactions , offering proactive assistance in financial management . It also expands its knowledge base through machine learning , handling a broader range of banking enquiries effectively . Key customer queries include transaction cancellation , address change , statement requests , card replacements , and ISA openings , based on NatWest data .

Wendy Redshaw , Chief Digital Information Officer of the NatWest Group ’ s Retail Bank , said : “ As a bank we are committed to harnessing the latest technology to enhance customer experience , and the introduction of Cora + is a major step forward in how customers interact with NatWest .”

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