Bank account you access by voice
WE all know the frustration of trying to remember banking passwords, log-ons and security questions.
But, from today, the misery may finally be over for millions.
Barclays’ telephone-banking customers will now be able to clear security with just the sound of their voice.
The High Street giant’s ‘voice-recognition technology’ identifies callers by the tone of their voice, removing the need for security questions or passwords.
It will create a digital profile of customers’ voices – as unique as a fingerprint – over the course of several phone calls.
Once the bank has built up a sufficient profile, customers can choose to use voice recognition rather than a password. This profile will be securely stored on Barclays’ system, and deleted if customers opt out.
The bank claims the system is more secure than passwords as it monitors more than 100 characteristics of voices. It says the system saves time as it takes roughly two minutes to get through alternative security measures.
Steven Cooper, of Barclays, said: ‘We can all relate to the frustration of forgetting a password at the crucial moment. Voice security can cut out that part of the call completely and, unlike a password, each person’s voice is as unique as a fingerprint.’
Barclays said the system can identify someone even if they have a cold as the markers it analyses – including accent, pronunciation and cadence – would not change.
It also said fraudsters would be unable to mimic a customer and fool the computer as they would have to recreate all the physical and behavioural aspects of their speech.
Playing a recording of a customer’s voice would not work either as the adviser would pick this up. But fraud experts say they are yet to be convinced because the technology is so new. Andrew Goodwill, of the Goodwill anti-fraud group, said: ‘Voice recognition is in its infancy with regards to security.’
James Daley, of consumer finance website Fairer Finance, said he ‘tentatively welcomed’ the technology. He said: ‘If this can cut out the inconvenience of handing over account details and passwords then this is a good thing.’
HSBC’s online bank First Direct plans to have most of its 1.3million customers using voice ID security by the end of summer. And up to 15million HSBC customers will be able to use voice recognition later this year, while Lloyds is also looking at the technology.
Experts fear pub staff are flouting guidelines by taking contactless bank cards from customers to make payments. The UK Cards Association trade body says the card should ‘stay in the customer’s hand’ while payment is made to guard against risk of fraud.