Meet Mitsubishi UFJ’s latest worker: robot called NAO

12:49 • 03.02.15
Science/tech

Meet the latest employee of Japan’s biggest bank: a multilingual robot called NAO, bloomberg.com reports.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. unveiled the 58-centimeter (23-inch) humanoid on Monday to improve services for customers in Japan and become the first bank in the world to use robots at branches, it said.

NAO can read emotions and speak 19 languages, the bank said in a presentation. It’s still being tested and will start working at one or two locations in Tokyo around April on a trial basis, the lender said. The robot, developed by Paris-based Aldebaran Robotics SA, a unit of SoftBank Corp., will greet customers and ask them what services they need.

Mitsubishi UFJ’s move coincides with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ambition to achieve a “robot revolution” as part of his growth strategy for a nation that’s facing a shrinking workforce and declining population.

Financial firms worldwide are paying attention to technology and the country’s lenders need to keep up with developments, Japanese Bankers Association Chairman Nobuyuki Hirano said in January.

“Robots can supplement services by performing tasks that our human workers can’t, such as 24-hour banking and multilingual communication,” said Takuma Nomoto, chief manager of information technology initiatives at Mitsubishi UFJ’s main lending arm. “NAO is cute and friendly and I believe our customers will like it,” he said at today’s briefing in Tokyo.

Japanese people like to experience the face-to-face services available at physical branches, Nomoto said.

“Hello and welcome,” NAO said in a demonstration to an English-speaking customer. “I can tell you about money exchange, ATMs, opening a bank account, or overseas remittance. Which one would you like?”

LATEST NEWS

Videos

15:20 • 24.05.21

Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director

11:39 • 24.04.21

Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide

09:40 • 23.04.21

Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News

15:34 • 22.04.21

Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank

14:09 • 21.04.21

'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide

12:37 • 03.04.21

Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24

17:33 • 11.03.21

Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors

17:57 • 26.01.21

Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan

13:33 • 22.01.21

Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh

09:42 • 29.12.20

UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'

18:41 • 24.12.20

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations

13:33 • 31.10.20

Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video

16:37 • 30.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies

11:25 • 28.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone

13:45 • 24.10.20

Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan

11:51 • 24.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment

11:40 • 24.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan

10:39 • 24.10.20

Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital

12:41 • 23.10.20

President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace

12:16 • 23.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware

12:02 • 22.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures

10:35 • 22.10.20

President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels

10:51 • 17.10.20

Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling

15:09 • 15.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy

13:13 • 13.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank

12:56 • 12.10.20

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements

12:23 • 12.10.20

Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles

17:23 • 09.10.20

Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage

15:53 • 09.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column

14:11 • 09.10.20

Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh

15:52 • 08.10.20

Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)

10:57 • 08.10.20

Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes

14:24 • 07.10.20

War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda

19:31 • 05.10.20

Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks

16:17 • 04.10.20

Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression

12:39 • 04.10.20

Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes

13:49 • 03.10.20

Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions

10:12 • 29.09.20

ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline

23:42 • 28.09.20

There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR

18:45 • 28.09.20

EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh

Show all

Most popular articles Today Yesterday For a week

Politics

Law

Economy

Event

Press digest

Science/tech

Sports

Culture

Entertainment