Australian businesses now have access to a new nearshore customer service centre with multinational company Teleperformance (TP) opening a new hub in Bali.

Located off Kuta Beach, the new centre is launching with 500 customer experts servicing ANZ and global organisations in the CX, sales, collections, middle and back-office resources, with local staff especially trained to deal with the nuances and needs of Australian clients.

The global leader in digital business solutions services more than 170 countries around the world, with almost half a million employees.

“In Australia, companies across the telecommunications, banking services and finance, utilities, automotive and e-commerce industries utilise TP,” said Richard Valente, Executive Vice President of Business Solutions at TP.

“We’re so excited to open this new site in Bali, making it our fifth in Indonesia, where the company currently serves more than 25 clients, including some of the world’s premier brands, including those based in Australia,” he added.

“At TP, our digital business services for customer care and technical support use a combination of AI and EI solutions, and this is the next step in future plans to open an onshore facility here in Australia,” said Mr Valente.

This comes as major Australian companies such as Commonwealth Bank explore the option of replacing local call centre staff with artificial intelligence style chatbots.

“We’ve found that while AI enhances efficiency and helps meet customer needs, it can never replicate the emotional intelligence (EI) that fuels trust, connection, and loyalty,” said Mr Valente.

“AI has played a role in customer service for years and will continue to support routine tasks like answering FAQs, providing order status updates, or offering basic support.”

“It’s available 24/7 so it makes sense to quickly and efficiently handle high-volume inquiries through tools like chatbots and automated responses.”

“Major banks use virtual assistants to help customers with basic banking inquiries, while major Australian retailers use AI-driven chatbots to track orders and returns.”

“When it comes to the basics, AI has it covered. But what it can’t do is replicate emotional intelligence. Humans have empathy and compassion. They can creatively solve problems particularly when addressing sensitive or personalised customer requests.”

“AI can empower customer service agents by providing real-time information and insights which allows operators to resolve complex cases more efficiently, but it can’t solve them the way a human can.”

The new Bali site is the second new operational site TP opened this year, as the company continues to expand its service offerings across the globe. In August, the company opened a second location in Jamaica.