Feelter blog

The recent news that Samsung plans to expand Samsung Pay payments into major markets by utilizing the tech company’s artificial intelligence Bixby platform, is further evidence that the future of payments and banking, both online and high street, will likely involve voice recognition technology.

Designed to answer basic banking and financial questions - including bank account queries and money transfers - Bixby is used with cards from banks already registered with Samsung Pay. It is one of a seeming plethora of new and evolving voice-oriented technologies that are integrating with banking and payment services.

From tech companies like Apple and Google, to banks and credit card companies, to digital assistants and mobile apps, voice recognition tools and technologies are being enhanced and expanded in an effort to integrate them into everyday settings.

Think innovative voice technology and the average consumer will likely think of Apple. However, such voice recognition technology and voice-driven web tools and mobile apps are not simply the domain of the Cupertino-based high tech company. A variety of firms, large and small, are looking towards voice recognition as a way to simplify and enhance technology advances: from Apple’s Siri and Google’s Alex digital assistants, to Microsoft Cortana, Google’s Now and Facebook’s M.

Voice recognition is part of the ongoing trend in online retail to make life easier for consumers and in doing so, embolden innovative payment options and voice-oriented user authentication and biometric identification, while at the same time diminish reliance on conventional banks and banking.

Indeed, banks such as Capital One, Barclay’s and Wells Fargo are looking towards voice recognition and voice biometrics as a way to securely authenticate their members’ access to banking services and account integration from a variety of technology devices and mobile apps.

Increasingly secure voice-driven access to banking services and voice-activated payments by way of sophisticated digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa, as well as a growing number of mobile apps, utilize ever-improving voice biometric technology and threaten to turn online banking on its head.

For example, in the US, while Amazon’s Alexa already allowed its Prime members to order items from the web site via Alexa-connected devices, the company’s partnership with Capital One takes it one step further into the financial services domain by allowing voice commands to make account balance queries and credit card payments.

Such innovation is gradually becoming available worldwide, and not just online. In Europe, mobile and banking apps are already supporting voice-assist technology. Santander UK’s app, for example, allows customers to manage their accounts using voice commands, while Google is expanding voice control testing to point of sale devices in actual physical stores.

The end-game for payments is that voice authentication will play at least some role. Certainly, it is in the interests of both marketers and payment processors to encourage development of such technology, as ultimately such innovations are driven by the need to satisfy customer demands for ease-of-use and simplicity in payments. The bottom line is that the future of the industry is customer-driven, both in the payment options consumers have, and with regards the devices and platforms that they use to make those payments.

Voice recognition and voice authentication is set to provide an almost paradigm shift in payments and personal online banking, as well as how consumers purchase goods generally. Inevitably, such payment and banking innovations will be available through an almost unlimited number of devices that the customer uses every day.