Dancing (and Banking) With Pepper the Robot in Beverly Hills | News & Opinion

(Photo credit: Amanda Edwards)

On a recent visit to HSBC in Beverly Hills, a robot greeted me in the lobby.

I’ve met over 30 robots now, but most were tucked away inside laboratories. This one was a commercial-grade Pepper from SoftBank Robotics and is designed for life among humans.

The 4-foot humanoid weighs 62 pounds and has a 10.1-inch touch display, four microphones, two RGB cameras, multiple sensors, and 20 degrees of freedom (DoF), including individually actuated fingers for expressiveness.

At the bank, Pepper greeted me with a deep bow. “How may I help you? You can select one of these options,” it said, indicating the touch screen on its torso with end-effector flair. “Or just ask me a question,” it continued, before inclining its head gently and looking up at me with large smart computer-vision-enabled doe eyes.

I peered at its screen and, among the various banking inquiries on display, there was a “dance” option. So I tapped that instead (wouldn’t you?). Pepper did a power pose, then got its groove on to the accompaniment of plinky-plink electronic music (bet the banking staff in the bank love that).

After it was done, Pepper said “That was fun! Would you like to see another?”

The whole experience was charming.

I was about to be more sensible and try out the financial services menus using its voice-processing capabilities, when I was joined by Jeremy Balkin, Head of Innovation for HSBC. He’s in charge of this new robot initiative for the banking giant. Usually based at the HSBC HQ in Manhattan, Balkin was in town to introduce Pepper to Beverly Hills (and its new bio-based colleagues in the banking center) in what will become a much bigger international play over the next few years.

Jeremy, what is Pepper’s function here at the bank?
Pepper will be providing information about HSBC’s financial products and services: educating customers on available technologies such as the HSBC Mobile Banking app, ATMs, customer support and more, as well as asking introductory/qualifying questions before handing the customer off to the appropriate Relationship Managers for a more seamless transaction.

And this is the second Pepper in your rollout, right?
Pepper has been actively deployed for nine months now, starting first in NYC and here today in Beverly Hills. Then we’re going up to Seattle tonight to bring a Pepper to one of our banking centers up there.

So if I select interest in a debit card, Pepper can email or text me a link for more information, or retain the inquiry so a human can come forward to talk me through the application in person?
That’s right. We’re also able to capture interaction data and use that for reporting, or create custom campaigns based on inputs and preferences.

(Photo credit: Amanda Edwards)

In Beverly Hills there are a lot of tourists for whom English is not their first language. I’ve noticed many are happy to check in with Pepper for basic data like: ‘Where’s the ATM?’
Right. Because, in this banking center, it’s off to the side, not in the lobby, so not immediately in view. We’ve also found Pepper reduces wait times by 75 percent, letting people know, for instance, that they can use the ATM to deposit a check. They don’t have to wait for a teller.

How did this partnership come about with SoftBank?
We first met SoftBank around Thanksgiving time in 2017, to discuss how we could work together to revolutionize the retail banking customer experience.

Where did you first meet a Pepper humanoid in the wild?
I first met Pepper at a MasterCard Lab in Soho in 2016 and was fascinated by her ability to seamlessly understand my Australian accent. I thought at the time, 22 percent of Americans speak a second language and 30 percent of our US customer base are internationals, how could we collaborate with Pepper and SoftBank to deliver a transformational retail experience and delight our customers. Can I give you a demo?

Sure.
[Turns to the robot] Pepper, what’s the weather like in Sydney today?

How did you modify Pepper’s script for HSBC?
We’re always looking to improve the customer experience. To this degree, our teams—HSBC and SoftBank—worked together on various scripts and incorporated feedback from countless interviews with staff and customers in the final design. SoftBank provided its easy-to-use CMS, powered by DialogFlow, and with scalable cloud architecture we can integrate all our critical client, product, and sales applications into the system.

What has been the customer response so far?
We’ve seen more than 15,000 customer interactions and a 60 percent increase in new business at our flagship branch in Manhattan since Pepper arrived. The response from customers has been incredible and we have some of the happiest faces in banking. Just search for #MeetPepper on social media to see for yourself.

How does your new robot staffer fit into the grand scheme of things?
Pepper’s rollout is part of a larger vision to transform HSBC’s branch banking experience by providing a host of consumer-facing upgrades that is taking the franchise in an exciting new direction. By creating a revolutionary new type of digitally enhanced retail banking experience that uses data intelligence and leading-edge robotics, HSBC is transforming the everyday task of a branch visit into the extraordinary.

Finally, where will Pepper appear next?
It’s under wraps for now. But check back with us pre-summertime for the next announcement.