Over the weekend, something important happened.

When federal SNAP disruption threatened food benefits for millions, GiveCard moved fast, supporting a $18M emergency response to get prepaid assistance cards to families who need them.

The Challenge

Many recipients speak Spanish or Mandarin as their primary language, and call volume was about to blow past capacity. In emergency situations like this, language barriers and jammed phone lines can keep the most vulnerable people (kids, seniors, people with disabilities) from getting help.

What We Built: A Universal Concierge

We partnered with GiveCard to spin up multilingual voice AI support starting Friday and working through the weekend. We designed it as a universal concierge that meets people where they are, adapts to their needs, and speaks their language. The system handles calls in English, Spanish, and Mandarin at scale, so residents can get help immediately.

What it does:

• Helps people understand the card, program, and how to use it

• Verifies identity before providing activation codes

• Walks through claiming and activating virtual cards

• Supports setting up cards on Apple Pay and Google Wallet

• Helps track physical card delivery

This universal concierge approach means handling complex, time-sensitive situations with an empathetic, trauma-informed tone, because we know people are calling in stressful situations. It knows when to provide immediate help and when to triage to human agents for predetermined issues that need human support. And it never stores personal data.

The Impact

Since launch Lorikeet and GiveCard have:

• Supported more than 300,000 people seeking financial assistance

• Answered more than 60,000 calls (and counting) from GiveCard cardholders

By acting as an intelligent and scalable extension of GiveCard’s support team, Voice 2.0 eliminated long wait times, cleared bottlenecks, and made it possible for families in crisis to access essential funds without delay.“During a difficult and stressful situation, we could rely on Lorikeet voice agents to guide cardholders through the process of accessing their benefits with clarity and care,” said Sofia Pedro, Head of Product at GiveCard. “Lorikeet's support was critical to successfully managing caller needs, ensuring families received critical resources and peace of mind.”

What's Next

When emergencies hit, getting help to people quickly and compassionately is everything. We're grateful to be part of this response, and we're here to support organizations doing critical work for their communities.