Case Study: National Bank of Rwanda scales consumer protection across 591 financial institutions with Proto

Financial consumer protection automation in Rwanda

The National Bank of Rwanda, the country's central bank, faced a challenge in providing accessible financial consumer protection. Their decentralized, manual complaints process was difficult for consumers to use, especially for rural, low-income, and first-time users, with 35% of people unaware they could even lodge a complaint with the bank. To address this, the bank partnered with vendor Proto to implement an AI Customer Experience (AICX) solution.

Proto deployed a multilingual chatbot named INTUMWA across popular channels like WhatsApp and SMS in English, French, and Kinyarwanda. This solution automated the consumer protection system, extending its reach to 591 financial institutions. The results were significant: the system now handles 550,000 monthly interactions (an 80% year-over-year increase) and has managed over 4.5 million messages, dramatically scaling access to recourse and strengthening financial inclusion.

National Bank of Rwanda

Gérard Nsabimana

Director of Market Conduct Supervision