Royal Bank of Canada is continuing to make security a core focus of its business as it announced the launch of voice verification today.
The largest financial institution in the country has called the new feature RBC Secure Voice and states it ensures “natural conversation” and provides “client’s identity within seconds.” The system, powered by Nuance, uses a voice biometrics system that makes the usual passwords, PINs, and standard questions unnecessary when calling into a customer service centre. RBC said in a press release, “when you call an RBC Contact Centre, your voiceprint – which is unique to each individual – is matched to your live voice in ‘real time’, within seconds of your call.” A similar system was rolled out at TD Waterhouse a few years ago.
A pilot program of RBC Secure Voice was rolled out over the summer; the complete rollout will be implemented over the next few months in a phased-in approach. RBC notes that customers who would like to enroll in the added security service will have to connect with customer service and record their voiceprint, which is then encrypted and stored on RBC’s secure server.
Claude DeMone, VP of Business Enablement at RBC, said, “With RBC Secure Voice, our advisors can begin assisting our clients right away – an added convenience our clients are already telling us that they really appreciate. We realize the typical verification process can sometimes seem like a series of skill-testing questions – RBC Secure Voice simplifies this process significantly. All you need to do is talk to an RBC advisor and the distinctive qualities of your voice take care of all the rest.”
Related reading: Your voice may be the best password there is
[source] RBC [/source]
