Voice of banking future
NATIONAL Australia Bank is predicting a world where digital payments become so intertwined with our lives that voice- activated assistants will soon be able to help us do all of our shopping from the couch.
Voice activated chatbots similar to Siri or Google Assistant will soon be built into our bankings apps on our phones, telling us our bank balance, paying our bills, transferring funds and even ordering groceries.
Banking and everyday life is also set to become further entwined over the next couple of years, with NAB predicting customers will soon be able to finance a car loan while they are standing in the dealership.
NAB’s executive general manager digital and innovation Jonathan Davey said the usage of chatbots was already increasing and people were becoming more comfortable using them to get answers to basic questions.
“It won’t be long before we see these devices becoming common in every household and having the capability to provide consumers with the ability to perform more personalised tasks, like being able to tell you your bank account balances or transaction history and even paying bills or transferring funds at your voice command,” he told Business Daily.
Banking will continue to be integrated with other services, such as NAB’s partnership with realestate. com. au, which combines property searches with the home loan process to eliminate stress for home buyers by creating a “one- stop- shop”, Mr Davey said.
“This is giving buyers confidence – they know that when they turn up to an auction at the home of their dreams they have approval for finance,” he said.
Realestate. com. au is a subsidiary of REA Group, which is majority owned by News Corp, publisher of the Townsville Bulletin. Mr Davey said consumers would eventually be able to access instantaneous loans without any paperwork.
“For example, being able to finance a new car on the spot when while you’re at the dealership … removing physical paperwork and waiting time,” he said.
Another advancement on the horizon is where payments can be processed automatically with the consent of the user – similar to when a customer pays for an Uber ride at the end of a trip.