Voice commands, typically accessed through mobile-banking applications, can now be used to complete a vast array of banking transactions, including sending payments, processing foreign-exchange transactions, logging in and out of accounts, and confirming purchases. All of these tasks are made more efficient through the use of speech. But today's voice-banking solutions are not only being designed to complete simple tasks. They can also provide answers to questions in the same vein as Siri or Alexa, and they also seek to integrate other tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) to more accurately gauge customer behaviour. This opens up a myriad of additional, and often more complex, actionable options for the customer.

For financial institutions that have yet to adopt conversational banking, the potential user base already exists. Nearly two-in-five U.S. adults are now users of smart speakers, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. In November 2020, eMarketer estimated that 128.0 million people in the US used a voice assistant – 44.2% of internet users and 38.5% of the total population. Consumers are programming themselves to find things using their voices. They're doing less button-pressing and more speaking to control their entertainment experiences, for example--from Amazon Fire TV to Apple TV.

Plexiglass and human "traffic monitors" will go only so far to ease concerns of both consumers and employees about in-person banking while the COVID pandemic continues. Financial institutions are realizing that long-term adjustments will be required in how retail banking is conducted. This dramatic shift has sharply increased interest in various types of conversational banking, especially as a means to ease the pressure on call centers. Most often, conversational banking takes the form of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence. But it also includes voice-activated digital assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, used with a variety of devices including mobile phones and smart speakers.

With Siri one button away from telling us everything Google has to offer, and Alexa making smart homes more accessible than ever, it's transparent how artificial intelligence and voice technology in particular have helped transform our personal lives. It only seems right that the next big step is voice-controlled banking. Wouldn't it be nifty to be able to handle payments of all your bills through voice-controlled integrations? Or even better, remove the 30-minute waits when you are trying to deal with customer support? There are companies constantly developing new technologies to help improve the customer experience in the financial industry.

Get ready to say: "Hey Google. How much do I have in my bank account?" NatWest is to begin voice-only banking that will give customers direct access to their accounts by talking to the Google Home smart speakers now in millions of British homes. The trial – the first by a UK high street bank – will let customers ask Google "What's my balance?", "What's my latest transactions?" Google devices will answer verbally, and also flash the answers up on the customer's smartphone.

AI is entering our everyday lives. We can ask a computer to order a pair of Converse sneakers, book a hotel, or schedule a romantic dinner with our spouse. Shouldn't we also be able to pay for stuff with our voices? Industries from eCommerce to banking harness voice technologies with every new piece of software released. Voice-enabled virtual assistants gain more recognition each year, and the financial sector is among the top beneficiaries of this innovation.

Today's blog post is a Q&A session with top fintech influencer and founder of Unconventional Ventures, Theodora Lau. Named one of 44 "2017 Innovators to Watch" by Bank Innovation, ranked No. 2 Top FinTech Influencers 2018 by Onalytica, and named to the list of LinkedIn Top Voices 2017 for Economy and Finance, she's a powerful voice in the industry. If you probe into the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives in the enterprise, it quickly becomes clear what's behind it: big data. In a 2018 NewVantage Partners survey of Fortune 1000 executives, 76.5 percent cite the greater proliferation and availability of data is making AI possible. As Randy Bean in an MITSloan Management Review article puts it, "For the first time, large corporations report that they have direct access to meaningful volumes and sources of data that can feed AI algorithms to detect patterns and understand behaviors….these

In a recent article on ThePaymentsReview.com titled Trellance Predictions for 2018, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was touted as having "become a must-have in the everchanging market. Credit unions need to make AI a part of their strategy to continue competing in the payments and lending space." The prediction made at the beginning of the year was that "We will see an increase of AI technology in consumer lending, customer (member) interaction/retention, payments and fraud detection." Following up on the topic of "AI" with the intent of offering additional insight and feedback as the market continues to evolve, and more importantly what our member credit unions are planning or implementing, we found that the interesting part of AI is that it is not focused on one area but offers a variety of solutions for data analytics, voice banking and many others. The continued rise in Fintech providers has made the industry become more competitive, as there are so many options.

Consumers are increasingly making voice capabilities a central part of their mobile and home-based interactions. As a result, it is time for organizations to integrate voice-first technologies into consumer acquisition, sales, service and digital customer experience strategies. Subscribe to The Financial Brand via email for FREE!Based on the sales results of the past 18 months, there appears to be an almost insatiable appetite for voice devices by consumers. The demand and utilization of these digital assistants, coupled with the significant advancements in the underlying technology, indicate that voice-first devices are on the cusp of transforming commerce and marketing in virtually every industry. According to a recent study from CapGemini, "Voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa, and Apple's Siri, will revolutionize how consumers and brands interact in ways not witnessed since the dawn of e-Commerce. It is so much more than a new interface or an additional channel in an omni-channel world. It promises to be a curator of services and experiences that intelligently meet needs and engage consumers emotionally--anytime, anywhere."

It is surprising how technology is so dynamically transforming one sector after another with revolutionary innovations. After the early rattle of IoT (Internet of Things), AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality) and Cloud computing, now we have the digital voice assistant technology to look forward to. Based on the combination of machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data analytics and cloud computing, the digital voice-enabled assistant may not sound like a new phrase to you. You might have heard of a personal assistant helping you organize and manage your daily life routines. Here the concept of voice-based services extends far beyond just personalized assistance to touch the banking sector at large.