Friday, 19 February 2016

Bank Lets You Access Account Using Voice

More than 15 million HSBC and First Direct mobile banking customers can now access their account using the new technique.

                         View of the HSBC headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey

Banking passwords could soon be a thing of the past for millions after a bank rolled out a voice recognition system.

More than 15 million HSBC and First Direct mobile banking customers can now access their account using the new technique.

A company called Nuance Communications is supplying the voice biometric technology, which cross-checks voices against over 100 unique identifiers including speed and pronunciation.

It also looks for clues that could help it match physical features - including vocal tract and nasal passage characteristics.

Customers who enrol will have to record their "voice print" and then will no longer need to enter their security password or pin to access their account.

Fingerprint recognition is already widely available, with many smartphones using the tech to allow people to unlock their device to allow them to pay for things.Using a fingerprint to login will also be available to the bank's customers.
Moving away from passwords could bring security benefits - because many people use easily guessable passwords, or rarely update them.

First Direct chief executive Tracy Garrad said that physical and behavioural characteristics are "almost impossible to mimic".
She said: "While this is the largest roll out of voice ID in the UK banking, other industries will soon follow our lead."
However Barclays pointed out that it launched voice biometric technology to its wealth management customers in 2013.
It said it would make the service available to all of its customers in the near future.

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