Using your phone to make voice payments has a number of advantages. Depending on your banking app, you can use a service like ING’s Inge voice activation service, or Bank of America’s chatbot, Erica. Both services allow users to speak to their phones and have these apps recognize their voice and help them make payments and money transfers. Other companies offering voice payment services include PayPal, Square Cash, and Venmo.

Convenience

The convenience of using voice payments is quickly becoming a popular payment option. In a world where everything happens so fast, consumers find voice payments particularly convenient. They are easy to use and save consumers time, while granting brands unprecedented access to consumer data.

For example, voice payments don’t require a password or PIN code. A person’s voice is often recognized as their own and the payment will proceed. However, if a child is using the device, the transaction will be declined. Moreover, customers don’t have to wait for their mobile devices to charge their accounts before they can use them. For these reasons, the convenience of using voice payments is an excellent solution for businesses.

The convenience of using voice payments has already made it the choice of most consumers. Peer-to-peer transfer is now possible by voice command through applications like Venmo, Square Cash, and PayPal. And Wells Fargo is adding conversational voice interfaces to their mobile banking apps. If we get this technology to the point of becoming a widespread payment option, it will revolutionize the entire financial services industry and make routine banking tasks easier.

Security

The biggest challenge in implementing voice payments is the perceived insecurity of these services. This is especially true since the voice is as unique as a fingerprint. The voice is also easy to duplicate and steal, which is why passwords and card numbers are so easily copied. This is where biometric markers like iris scans and fingerprints come in handy. Combined, these biometric markers can be used to authenticate a person and prevent unauthorized payments.

One way to address this security concern is to implement a voice-biometrics system. While most companies already use voice-biometrics to identify consumers, a voice biometric system can be a better choice for these applications. In addition, voice-tokens can be time-bound to prevent unauthorized purchases. And because voice payments are so easy to make, these devices can be used in conjunction with other security measures. Regardless of which technology you use, there are always ways to enhance the security of your voice payments.

Voice-activated technology needs to be able to differentiate between recorded and live audio. For instance, a voice banking system must be able to distinguish between a human, a recorded audio, and a synthetically generated voice. Moreover, voice-activated hardware devices should be PCI-compliant to protect users against cyber fraud. However, it may be difficult for a machine to detect a human voice, but voice-activated devices can be made to recognize human voices.

Interoperability

As voice payment technology has started to become more widely used in the finance and banking industry, retailers of all sizes should pay attention to interoperability issues. Lack of interoperability is a key issue, and it can lock consumers into voice ecosystems created by Big Tech. But this trend is already taking off, and a recent survey revealed that between eight and ten percent of US customers have used voice payments. Even if voice payments are not yet commonplace, the benefits are numerous.

The consumer experience will drive the future of voice payments. Biometrics have become a mainstream method of identification for people, and many people have grown weary of PINs and passwords. While two-step authentication has been around for years, it still suffers from a security risk. In addition, voice payments detach the user’s personal details from their voiceprint, making it anonymous in the backend.

Despite these challenges, the Voice Interoperability Initiative has already made progress. As of now, more than 30 companies are supporting the initiative, with Google, Apple and Facebook joining the list of founding members. The list of participating companies is still growing, and it may include companies that are not yet on board.