Bank of America will soon provide its customers with a chatty "virtual assistant" named Erica that will use artificial intelligence to make suggestions over mobile phones for improving their financial affairs.  Michelle Moore, head of digital banking for BofA, said that Erica - whose name was plucked from the last 5 characters of the bank's own name - will be smarter than a robot because she will bring up topics on her own, using predictive analytics as opposed to only answering questions customers ask.

Examples:

• Erica may recommend taking steps to lift a sagging credit rating she noticed. Or, she may propose a customer make higher monthly payments on an outstanding credit card balance to reduce interest expenses.
• In response to a request for a checking account balance, Erica may report that the customer is in danger of overdrawing the account, based on recent spending, and suggest immediately transferring funds from a savings account.

Industry executives, including Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, have said they are looking to new technology to reduce costs and cut the time branch employees spend on routine transactions and questions.