Merq launches ‘Sally' programme to provide information on credit cards on Facebook

Sally is first programme with auto-reply feature to be used in finance sector

Merq for Artificial Intelligence, which is specialised in financial education, announced on Sunday the launching of ‘Sally', the first programme for smart dialogue through Facebook Messenger's social media application, in order to educate people on credit cards' systems.
Sally Credit Card will provide individuals with all the information they need to choose from different credit cards' options in various banks, through Facebook Messenger's voice services.
"The company is one of the emerging enterprises for artificial intelligence in banking and financial sectors in Egypt," the CEO of Merq, Waleed Ghalwash, said, adding that they are looking forward to boost technological development among Egyptians.
Ghalwash pointed out that ‘Sally' is one of several programmes which use artificial intelligence (AI) in automatic replies through ‘Chatbot' which Merq plans to launch to spread financial awareness among citizens.
"Sally is the first virtual financial assistant in Arabic that is targeted at creating financial education about the various services of credit cards and offers available in the Egyptian market," Ghalwash explained.
Sally saves consumers' time, and offers them 24/7 availability in order to provide them with inclusive information based on their needs, targeting a large segment of citizens who do not deal with the banking sector, representing 89% of the people. The software also targets non-credit cards users who deal with banks.
Sally has received international attention and support out of the faith in the need for financial inclusion and education. The programme has received support from IBM which contributed to improving the resources and tools in order to provide it with the highest quality services.
Ghalwash pointed out that the company aims to cover all 39 banks working in Egypt, stressing that the number of people who deal with ‘Sally' every day has exceeded 10,000 in less than two months. There are expectations for the number of users to grow to 50,000 by the end of 2019.
Merq aims to cover various topics related to financial literacy, and the ways to benefit from banking and non-banking services, in addition to helping make financial decisions easier for Egyptians through increasing awareness of the banking and financial sector, in light of the state's strategy to support AI.
"2019 will be witnessing a powerful and a strong role of AI in promoting marketing products and services, as well as spreading awareness. Additionally, according to studies conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, AI in Egypt will contribute by $42.7bn in 2030, representing 7.7% of the GDP," Ghalwash said.