Citi wants to use IBM’s Watson computer to speed things along for banking customers

ARMONK, N.Y. – IBM’s Watson computer is going into finance.

Citigroup and IBM said Monday they will look into how the famous computer system’s technology can improve banking for customers.

Citi said it’s hoping to improve the accuracy and speed of making decisions, assessing risk and finding lending opportunities.

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In a blog entry, an IBM general manager suggested Watson could eventually help customers decide how much money they needed to retire or whether they should reshuffle their investments.

Watson is best known for defeating the best “Jeopardy!” players on TV. It’s also being used by health insurer WellPoint Inc. to help diagnose medical problems.

In a previous collaboration, IBM and Citi announced in 1954 that IBM’s “electronic brain” reduced the time for a cost-benefit analysis from 1,000 man-hours to 9.5 minutes.