Just listen to the sound of my voice

Will futuristic banking security measures really make our money safer?

The future of banking: his master's voice (Getty)

In the future, accessing financial services could be as simple as speaking. Rather than the current system of security checks, passwords, passcodes and security questions that remain vulnerable to fraudsters despite being often impenetrable to customers, banking in the future could be so streamlined, advanced and efficient that merely speaking is enough to identify and authorise a user.

That future came closer this month with the news that Santander had unveiled its new smartphone app that allows customers to send payments using only their voices.

Unlike voice biometrics, where customers can already use their voices as a password this latest pilot scheme will allow customers to use their voices to make payments to existing payees.

Ed Metzger, head of technology innovation at Santander, said: “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 choose to manage their money.”

Customers would perhaps be surprised if they knew just how close that transformation is.

Already TalkTalk-ing this way

A number of organisations, including HMRC, are rolling out voice recognition, although so far as an additional level of security rather than as an alternative to passcodes and PINs.

In the UK, TalkTalk has pioneered this approach outside of the banking sector and a spokesperson told us they expect voice recognition and voice biometrics will become increasingly commonplace in the near future. Already it has reduced the amount of time it takes to authenticate a customer from 60 seconds to just 12.

The spokesperson explained: “The biometric technology behind voice recognition identifies customers by analysing over a hundred unique characteristics of their voice including the shape of larynx, vocal tract and nasal passage, alongside pronunciation, emphasis and speed of their speech.

“As each person’s voice is unique, voice biometric technology is one of the most secure forms of identification.”

Safety concerns

With any banking security there are concerns about safety. The trouble with using a voice as a password is that, unlike a PIN, it’s not possible to change a voice.

Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO of Encap Security, which works on technology that allows customers to authenticate themselves through their smartphones, says the future of banking security is guided by what’s popular in general technology. Alexa, Siri and Cortana are already normalising talking to machines.

“Voice identification is similar to using your fingerprint to identify yourself – a biometric authentication factor that means the bank can have confidence that you are who you say you are. But all authentication factors have vulnerabilities, whether it’s voice, a fingerprint, a PIN, or a password. Your voice is not something that can be kept secret, like a PIN, and it can’t be changed if there’s a problem.

“A single authentication factor is always going to be vulnerable to attack. Any sensible bank won’t rely just on voice, but on a combination of factors – such as voice, a PIN, and checking the smartphone being used belongs to the account holder.”

Of course, one obvious security risk is that customers might be recorded or even kidnapped and forced to give verbal approval of transactions. It sounds like the stuff of Hollywood action thrillers, but it could be a real risk.

Yet the people developing the technology are working hard to factor such security issues into their technology.

Matt Lewis, research director at global cyber security firm NCC Group, has tested systems for such vulnerabilities and says they are less concerning than users might think.

He says: “The complexity involved in planning and executing such attacks is very high, with little guarantee of success. Many systems are good at detecting recordings that are too similar or identical to previous voice patterns.

“In a hostage situation, some voice systems may allow for a ‘duress’ keyword or passphrase to be enrolled which might still authenticate the user, but instantly flag to a bank or similar that the user is under duress.”

Serving a need or cutting costs

While most consumers will be delighted at any system which removes the need to remember various passwords, only to forget them at a critical point, some will undoubtedly be cynical about the voice recognition developments.

It could be argued that banks and other businesses are simply hoping to cut costs, risking customers banging their heads against their handsets in frustration because the computer says ‘no’.

However, Shashi Nirale says both customers and banks will benefit from a wider rollout of voice recognition and voice biometrics. He is senior vice-president at Servion, a customer experience firm that has just deployed a speech-recognition system for a major bank in West Asia.

He explains: “As businesses become more digitalised, consumers are frustrated with having to remember numerous passwords or having to carry dongles around just to access their account information – voice biometrics simplifies this, as you can hardly leave your voice at home.

“For banks, the cost benefit is not to be underestimated. Automation, particularly AI-driven automation, is helping a number of banks and industries to reduce costs.

“Very soon we will also see artificial intelligence (AI) driven voice activation taking over a range of customer interactions – for example, Swedbank deployed Nuance to introduce a basic AI called Nina, which learns what customers want and how best to help them, by assimilating searches made on the website and enquiries at the contact centre.

“Nina now handles a large number of transactional calls that would have previously been handled by a human, while more complex enquiries – for example mortgage applications – are passed to a human.”

Future tech

Financial providers are frantically working to develop new technologies that will speed up authentication and transactions. However, so far customers remain sceptical.

Research from uSwitch shows that 56% of customers believe technology is simply being used to cut costs and 55% say they would rather banks focused on improving their core services.

However, ‘audio fingerprinting’ is more popular than other developments; 55% of customers surveyed said the technology would be beneficial, while MasterCard’s ‘selfie pay’, which allows customers to authorise payments by taking a selfie, is considered fairly useless, with just 15% of those surveyed saying it would help.

Tashema Jackson, money spokesperson at uSwitch.com, says: “While Santander’s latest announcement has made a big splash, only time will tell if it will be fully embraced by its customers. Our own research shows there is some interest already, with around a quarter of us eager to adopt voice banking in our daily lives.

“However Santander, like all banks, needs to make sure its core services are up to scratch before adding bells and whistles. New technology announcements from the big banks may grab headlines, but many consumers remain sceptical that these products are putting their needs first. Worryingly, over half of consumers believe banks are only introducing new technology to cut costs.

“Banks who ignore this sentiment risk alienating their customers, or losing them to rivals who focus on product development that makes a bigger difference to our daily lives.”