Although phone banking is a convenient way of bringing your bank account into the plam of your hand, it has some drawbacks. Identifying yourself over the phone can be a herculean task, as the customer has to pass through a series of questions before being allowed to carry on with his banking transactions.
But now, all that may be a thing of past. BNZ has announced that its customers in New Zealand can soon identify themselves just by talking on the phone. The bank will introduce this service in October this year. The solution is an interesting mix of voice biometrics and open speech navigation technologies.
With the help of voice biometrics, customers will be able to easily identify themselves. The company hopes that apart from saving time, it will also improve the overall customer experience. The open speech navigation provided in this solution aims to enable customers to specifically direct where their call will go and thus reach the right person. The company plans to make this service available progressively at its contact centers.
Apart from offering a voice biometric solution for mobile banking, the company also offers apps built specifically for the iPhone or Android devices for checking account balances. The company has incorporated Mobile NetGuard in this solution for added security.
BNZ head of direct Mel Cadman said, “To us, providing an outstanding customer experience means connecting our customers as quickly as possible to the right person to help them. Our challenge is to make interacting with us simple in an environment where the ranges of queries our staff address through the contact centre are becoming more complex and varied. Open speech navigation and voice biometrics will enable us to know who our customers are, what they are calling about.”