RBC and CIBC introducing voice authentication services for telephone banking

Following its successful pilot project last summer, Royal Bank is introducing voice biometrics technology to identify clients who phone the bank’s call centers, according to a report by Toronto Star.

The optional service, which was developed by Nuance Communications, is being phased in over a three-month period.

According to RBC, the bank is the first Canadian company to use voice biometrics technology to create and identify a client’s “voiceprint” through regular conversation as compared to solutions that require the user to say a pre-determined phrase to verify their identity.

The new service will speed up RBC’s customer service process, as agents are now able to immediately address a client’s needs instead of asking them a series of security questions.

In other biometrics and banking news, CIBC launched an innovation lab in Toronto’s Mars Discovery District earlier this year.

The space is dedicated to researching and developing new technologies for the bank, including voice authentication comparable to Apple’s Siri.

The solution — which is still under development — allows customers to use their voices to access their bank accounts and perform a range of tasks, including paying bills, transferring money and asking for financial advice.

Additionally, CIBC is conducting research to determine how great the client demand is for voice-authenticated banking.

Previously reported, Canadian insurance firm Manulife deployed Nuance’s natural language understanding (NLU) and voice biometric technologies to improve the insurer’s contact center customer experience.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  call centers  |  Canada  |  Nuance Communications  |  voice recognition  |  voiceprints