The lender has been working with Festina Finance over the last year to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help transform the way its Mortgage Consultants interview customers.

Kevin Gray, CEO at Bath Building Society, revealed a lack of a good front end sales system for direct mortgages sales had been a barrier to growth for the society in the past.

“This was all proving to be both inefficient and frustrating and we therefore had a clear need to do something to improve this position,” he added.

Bath said the key behind Festina’s approach to AI had been to see it as a complementary tool when designing a business process and customer journey.

The software collects information about the customer’s financial situation and asks relevant questions on their views and understanding of mortgages and the overall economic outlook.

The society said the system, which was put into production in the summer, had helped it become more flexible when it came to dealing with customers, compliance and boosting productivity.

Gray added: “The system allows our Mortgage Consultants to conduct complete sales interviews in customers’ own homes and offices which now provides a much more professional service to our customers.”

“The technology greatly reduces the possibility of errors in the sales process thereby enhancing compliance. The time taken to process an application has also been significantly reduced which will greatly enhance the productivity of our direct sales team and improve the customer experience at the same time.”