This is the first time TSB has provided this functionality and has been introduced to help customers apply for a repayment holiday on mortgages, personal loans and business loans.

The new approach is freeing up TSB’s employees in branches and contact centres to focus on serving its most vulnerable customers or those that need essential bank services.

Since launching on 25 March, Smart Agent has answered over 11,000 customer requests using a combination of a chatbot and employees. Before introducing the chat function, these requests would typically have led to a call being made to the bank’s contact centres or a visit to the branch.

Working closely with its technology partner, IBM, TSB was able to introduce Smart Agent in just five days.

Over 250 TSB employees have been trained to provide the service and the majority are working from home.

Smart Agent has now been enhanced further to include the ability to authenticate the identity of customers and the service will also be included within the TSB mobile App.

TSB’s chief operating officer, Suresh Viswanathan, said: “We’re determined to help our customers in every way we can during this difficult period.

“That’s why it was important to deliver this solution quickly and I’m pleased we’ve been able to get it up and running in five days – it’s a testament to our teams working in partnership with IBM and our modern banking platform.

“It means that our colleagues across TSB who may be working from home can continue to help customers to access all our online and digital services.”