“…the move was also a response to enthusiasm that customers demonstrated for the biometric authentication technology used in AIB’s mobile app.”

One of Ireland’s biggest banks has implemented voice recognition technology from Nuance Communications for customer authentication.

Thanks to the newly implemented system, Allied Irish Banks customers who register for voice authentication can confirm their identities when calling the bank with the simple passphrase, “My voice is my password.”

The deployment reflects a larger quest in the financial services industry to eliminate friction in customer interactions, with a common refrain at this year’s Money20/20 USA event having held that ‘friction is the new F-word’. Elaborating in a statement, AIB’s Head of Digital Channel Development, Sean Jevens, explained, “We continually look for ways to improve the overall experience for our customers and often security is a key friction point,” adding later that AIB’s “Voice ID” system offers greater convenience by reducing the need for security questions.

Jevens added that the move was also a response to enthusiasm that customers demonstrated for the biometric authentication technology used in AIB’s mobile app.

This latest deployment indicates that voice authentication remains an important part of Nuance’s business even as the company seeks to focus more on AI and virtual assistant technologies. And the news arrives not long after another call center deployment of Nuance’s voice authentication technology, with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, near the end of summer.

(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)