Can IBM’s ‘Watson’ offer good investment advice? Singapore bank thinks so

Banking clients at DBS Group Holdings in Singapore will soon get investing assistance from Watson, the same IBM (NYSE: IBM) technology that triumphed over human “Jeopardy!” contestants.

The bank plans to begin using the tool, which can answer questions in conversational language and learn from responses, in the second half of 2014 to aid financial planners in guiding its wealth-management unit’s affluent customers, IBM said today. Watson will analyze large volumes of financial data to help DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, offer more customized service.

The agreement gives IBM a proving ground as it tries to show clients the value of its Watson technology.

IBM also said Thursday that it’s creating a separate division for Watson to spur growth after six consecutive quarters of falling revenue.

DBS is willing to invest $12 million over three years in IBM’s technology, and it plans to extend the Watson service beyond wealth management to its small-business and payment services, Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said today at a briefing in Singapore.

“In the digital era, consumers’ ability to access information and make choices has changed dramatically, and new technologies are revolutionising our way of life,” Gupta added in a statement. “To remain relevant, we need to continuously innovate. At DBS, we have been on a journey to shape the future of banking, and this collaboration with IBM enables us to explore ways to better harness data, providing more precise, customized and quality solutions that correspond to our clients’ needs,” he added.

According to IBM, Gupta has sought to develop innovation around three “big ideas:”