Customers trial Canada’s first voice banking service

Written by Hannah McGrath

15/08/2018

The first trial of an authenticated voice banking service has been launched to customers in Canada.

Innovation Credit Union and Conexus Credit Union will take part in a pilot by banking services provider Central 1 which will see customers control a number of bank account actions via voice command on Amazon Alexa devices.

The trial is the first time that a voice-activated digital assistant with human-like interaction has been used as a stand-in for a customer service representative.

The Conversational UI (User Interface) functionality is supported by machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve accuracy the more the customer engages with the service.

Customers will be able to use voice banking to make payments, send money and execute transfers between accounts.

The service will also provide feedback on customers’ financial health via voice command.

Dean Gagne, chief digital and technology officer at Central 1 said “Innovation Credit Union believes that Conversational UI is going to play a significant role in future member interactions, particularly with Millennials and Gen X.”

Jeremy Trask, chief digital officer at Conexus Credit Union said “Banking is no longer a place you go, but a thing you do and this new authenticated voice banking solution, is just that – access anytime and anywhere your Amazon Alexa goes.”