South KoreaFinance and insurance2023 – ongoingKB Kookmin Bank
AI chatbots and callbots in the contact centre
Citing AI and fewer calls, KB Kookmin cut call-centre contractors and 240 agents faced dismissal; after protests it accepted job transfers
Problem
KB Kookmin Bank ran its call centre through six subcontracted service firms. As AI chatbots and callbots took on more enquiries and customers returned to branches after the pandemic, the bank said call volumes had fallen.
Approach
From January 2023 the bank stopped refilling agent positions left by retirements and resignations, and in March 2023 it added speech-to-text and text analytics to the centre. In November 2023 it reduced its subcontractors from six to four; the two dropped firms in Daejeon sent dismissal notices to about 240 agents, mostly low-paid women. After union protests at its headquarters, the bank told the labour ministry on 14 December 2023 that it would accept employment succession, but the incoming contractor excluded some agents on parental leave and offered worse terms.
Results
Takeaway
The bank cut call-centre costs through subcontractors, leaving outsourced agents facing job cuts that were partly reversed after a public dispute. The union challenged the bank's claim of falling demand, saying some customers hung up when they could not reach a human.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Finance and insurance
- Business function
- Customer serviceHuman resources
- Innovation type
- Process innovationOrganization and ways of working
- AI technology
- Conversational and voice AI
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Goal
- Lower cost
- Evidence
- Press reporting
Sources
Source summaries
Reports that two subcontractors whose contracts KB Kookmin ended sent dismissal notices to 240 agents on 30 November 2023, and that the union held a protest at the bank's Yeouido headquarters demanding job succession. The bank said falling call volumes made the change unavoidable and that dismissals were the contractors' responsibility. The union said the workers had been transferred between contractors for about 20 years and called the move unlawful.
Weekly Kyunghyang reports that the bank stopped refilling agent posts from January 2023, introduced speech-to-text and text analytics in March and cut subcontractors from six to four in November, citing more AI counselling and post-pandemic branch sales. The bank accepted employment succession on 14 December, but the new contractor excluded some agents. The union said AI-only routing frustrated elderly callers.
Looks at AI in bank call centres across the sector. It notes the notice to about 240 KB Kookmin contract agents in Daejeon, the bank's explanation citing chatbots, callbots and the end of the pandemic, and its later decision to keep the agents. It also gives NH NongHyup Bank figures showing call-centre volume falling by almost a million calls in a year while chatbot queries rose about 21.7%.
Full details are in the original sources.
