Prize-Winning Alexa Skill from USAA Reveals Meaning of Intelligent Assistance

In the demo video below that simple command actually meant, "Help me buy new soccer cleats for my son." Powered by USAA's Savings Booster, a feature that the company has offered to its banking customers since mid-2015, Alexa quickly responded with a suggested action. Next thing you know, the happy Mom watches her child head out the door wearing the new shoes. According to Darrius Jones, AVP of Enterprise Innovation at USAA, the company built a crack team to rise to the Alexa Challenge, a contest conducted by PYMNTS.com, To build its demo, USAA's developers were able to create the Alexa-based conversational interface to Savings Booster, an existing feature for banking customers, in a matter of 10 hours. It then took 22 days to implement and be up-and-running on the Alexa platform.