Pay as you speak: Santander revamps voice banking app

Santander customers will be able to make payments with their voice by talking to their smartphone app, in yet another sign of the technological revolution that is transforming the banking industry. Under a new pilot scheme, the company has revamped its voice recognition technology to allow customers to make transfers to existing payees by speaking to their iPhone SmartBank app. It is the first high street lender to offer the service and comes after the company launched its so-called "voice assistant banking" technology last year. Ed Metzger, Santander UK's head of innovation technology and operations, said: "The appetite for simple, intuitive banking solutions has grown significantly in recent years. "This pioneering technology has huge potential to become an integral part of the future banking experience, playing a transformational role in the industry and redefining how customers to choose to manage their money."