By Ray Birch
SCARBOROUGH, Maine—It won’t be that far down the road when people rely on their in-home smart speakers to conduct many of their financial transactions.
That’s the opinion of $352-million Town & Country FCU, which just added functionality allowing members to use Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, Alexa, to access their personal account information.
Members can access their checking account balance, monitor their spending or find other information such as the credit union’s routing number through any Amazon Alexa-enabled device including Echo, Dot, Tap, Show and the new Spot.
“We feel voice-driven digital assistants will be a predominant way for members to access their account information in the not-too-distant future,” said CEO David Libby. “I think that the interest in the devices is very evident, with all of the new digital assistants that are coming into the market. In just over a year there are more than 12 million Echo units in people’s homes.”
Used For Many Purposes
Just like consumers expect FIs to keep pace with the high-tech service advancements of retailers, Libby believes consumers will soon expect their bank or credit union to allow account access through a smart speaker.
“These devices are going to be used to access all kinds of information, and we feel they are perfect to access financial account information to help people better manage their financial lives,” said Libby.
While Amazon and other companies will develop many new uses for digital assistants, the next big step for financial institutions and their use of smart speakers will be linking the devices to personal financial management tools, Libby said.
“We are excited about what we can do with digital assistants in the future,” said Libby, who noted that the credit union will rely on member feedback, as well, to shape uses for the technology. “Our next step might be full bill pay capability, which I believe Capital One already offers. But we really want to do more with personal financial management platforms. We see this technology being a very useful tool and natural fit with personal financial management programs.”
Libby noted, too, that digital assistants can provide the physically impaired with greater access to their finances.
“Not only those who have difficulty moving around, but also those who are visually impaired,” he said.
Media Attention
Libby contends that not many other credit unions are providing account access through digital assistants. Those that do, he said, tend to offer only very basic services, such as providing routing numbers and location information.
“Very basic Alexa skills,” he said.
Being one of the first financial institutions in the area to provide the service has focused a lot of media attention on the credit union, Libby said.
“It’s helped to position us as a thought-leading financial institution,” he said. “It’s generated a more interest in Town & Country.”
Initial member interest in the service has been good, said Libby.
“In the first two weeks we had quite a few members sign on for this. They say this is exciting new technology and tell us they are glad we have taken this step,” he said. “We’re just watching this now to see what kind of adoption it receives. But, again, we think it will be strong.”
The appeal, insists Libby, is that using a digital assistant is simply an easier way to bank, even easier than online and mobile.
“Plus, it is simple to set up. It authenticates to our mobile and online banking platform quickly, within a minute,” said Libby. “We feel the beauty of this technology is the machine learning element of it—it will start to learn and understand the things you typically do when interacting with the credit union and make the transaction process even easier for you.”
Secure Process
Libby said that connecting to the credit union through a digital assistant is just as secure as using the CU’s home or mobile banking offerings.
“The application works through our authentication system in our mobile and online banking platforms, which is very hardened,” said Libby. “And you also have to use a PIN with the digital assistant.”
Libby said the move continues to inspire confidence in the credit union.
“We have been a leader in the use of technology among financial institutions,” he said. “We were one of the first credit unions to offer Apple Pay and then the use of Apple Pay with the Apple Watch. We were one of the first financial institutions to roll out dial-up banking in 2007, touch screen kiosks in 2003, and check imaging ATMs. And, we were one of the first FIs in Maine to offer online and mobile banking.”