Credit union customers will be able use voice commands to pay bills and transfer money and carry out other transactions, Vancouver-based Central 1 Credit Union has announced.
Swift Current, Sask.-based Innovation Credit Union and Regina-based Conexus Credit Union, clients of Central 1, are piloting Canada’s first authenticated voice banking service using Amazon’s Alexa, Central 1 says.
“As an organization at the forefront of fintech innovation in Canada we’re thrilled to showcase our authenticated voice banking solution that, as we continue provide the technology to more clients, will add ease and accessibility to the banking experience,” says Mark Blucher, president and CEO of Central 1, in a statement.
The service will enable customers to make payments, send money and transfer money between accounts with just their voice. The credit unions are launching the service with targeted testing audiences, and they are planning to release it to all of their members in the fall.
Central 1 designed the service to be compatible with Alexa, “because Amazon Web Services provides a high level of security and flexibility, in addition to the fact that Alexa skills are long standing and highly developer-friendly,” the credit union central says in a news release.
“The service has high level of authentication and security measures built in, including an industry standard technology OAuth and voice biometrics security measures provided by Amazon,” Central 1 adds.