‘They’re highly active’: Inside TD Ameritrade’s integration with WeChat

TD Ameritrade continues to explore how to connect with its clients over different platforms. The company, which has already launched experiences on Messenger, Twitter DM, Amazon Alexa devices and Apple Business Chat, has launched a chatbot for WeChat. TD Ameritrade’s chatbot allows retail investors in Hong Kong to do their research, access market information, and get support through one of the most popular social and messaging platforms in Asia. This is all part of an innovation strategy that doesn’t require clients to come back to the firm’s website or log in to their mobile apps in order to interact with the company. “We’ve been on a journey to deliver access to TD Ameritrade platforms and people to the interfaces consumers use every day,” said Sunayna Tuteja, head of strategic partnerships and emerging technologies at TD Ameritrade. “We realize the importance of meeting those clients where they are most active -- in this case it is WeChat. By developing an experience for the platform, we are able to empower our consumers to play a more active role in managing their financial future.” To build a chatbot specially designed for WeChat, TD Ameritrade worked closely with existing clients and TD Ameritrade customer-facing employees to analyze various use cases to build a more personalized experience. The bot also leverages features unique to WeChat, like Shake and Mini. The resulting experience gives Hong Kong investors updates on U.S. markets, quotes, access to educational videos and FAQ information, as well as the ability to check account balances and positions and talk with an automated or live human agent. “As with all of our other AI–driven experiences on third-party platforms, there are three layers,” said Tuteja. “[These are] on demand information that is complemented by a rich repository of relevant content and the ability for each user to access their account.” For TD Ameritrade’s Asia-based clients, being able to transact where and when they want is key. They are eight times more active than the firm’s U.S. clients and place significantly more trades via mobile devices than their domestic counterparts. The firm’s WeChat launch meshes cleanly with its overall innovation strategy that strives to make investing more accessible and deliver a superior client experience at every interaction. “We want to break down barriers and offer a better investing experience, and part of that is giving consumers the ability to decide where they want to engage with us and how they want to engage with us,” TD Ameritrade’s Tuteja said. “Our relationship with WeChat is critical because we have a growing user base in the U.S. and Asia that is highly active on WeChat, so WeChat allows us to enhance the consumer experience in an intelligent and personalized way.”