Your Quick Guide to Voice Biometrics in Banking
The world of banking is rapidly evolving. With advancements in technology, the financial industry is embracing innovative solutions to enhance security and streamline processes. With fraud attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated, using security Q&A to verify the identity of account holders is simply too risky. The use of voice biometrics in banking is becoming increasingly common as a way to combat fraud attempts and remove friction from the end user experience.
By using unique vocal characteristics to authenticate callers, credit unions and banks of all sizes are revolutionizing the way they safeguard customer accounts and provide seamless user experiences.
What Is Voice Biometrics?
Voice biometrics is a branch of biometric authentication that focuses on analyzing and recognizing a person’s unique vocal patterns, such as pitch, tone, cadence, and pronunciation. Each individual’s voice is as distinct as their fingerprint, making it an ideal method for identity verification for telephone interactions where voice is the primary communication channel. This is true even for closely related individuals whose voices may sound similar to the human ear. To create a voiceprint or AudioPrint™, a voice authentication system captures the caller’s voice during an enrollment process, which serves as a baseline for future comparisons.
Active vs. Passive Voice Authentication in Banking
- With active voice authentication, a caller must repeat a specific passphrase for a match to be accomplished. A common example would be, “My voice is my password.”
- With passive voice authentication, the caller can simply speak in natural conversation and a sophisticated algorithm will match the characteristics regardless of the words (or the language) being spoken.
- Learn more about active and passive voice authentication here.
The Role of Voice Biometrics in Banking
Enhanced Account Security: Traditional authentication methods, such as PINs and passwords or security questions, are susceptible to breaches due to the rising sophistication of cyber-attacks and social engineering. Voice verification, on the other hand, provides an additional layer of security that is extremely difficult for fraudsters to penetrate. With voice authentication, bank and credit union customers and members are protected from unauthorized access to sensitive information and financial losses.
Explore voice authentication for fraud prevention.
Frictionless User Experience: Voice biometrics streamlines the authentication process, eliminating the need for callers to remember anything or receive a one-time passcode (OTP). With just their voice, customers and members can securely access their accounts, perform transactions, and interact with the contact center agents, enhancing the overall user experience.
Voice verification can even work in the IVR to improve customer experience 24/7.
Personalization and Trust: In a world where digital interactions are becoming increasingly prevalent, consumers often seek a sense of personalization and trust. Voice biometrics fosters this by recognizing individuals and tailoring services to their preferences, ultimately building stronger relationships between consumers and their banking institutions. Voice verification recognizes consumers on the phone by their voice instead of making them prove who they are with a minute or more of Q&A.
Learn more about creating a frictionless customer experience in banking call centers.
What to Consider Before Deploying Voice Biometrics
Voice biometrics holds great promise. But for a banking institution, voice authentication solutions must meet high standards to reduce risk, improve customer experience, and increase operational efficiency.
Accuracy: Voice biometric systems must be highly accurate to limit false rejections or acceptances. Not all voice authentication solutions have the same level of accuracy. The best platforms leverage Machine Learning to continuously improve the algorithm and allow fine tuning for the highest level of accuracy.
Learn how passive voice authentication battles the threat of “deep fake” voice mimicry.
Data Privacy: As with any biometric system, banks must address concerns regarding data privacy and security. Robust encryption and stringent data protection measures are vital to ensure that voiceprints are stored securely and used solely for authentication purposes. Biometric data has its own rules and regulations that can vary by state.
Download our white paper on voice biometrics privacy laws covering each state.
User Acceptance: Some customers may be hesitant to adopt voice biometrics due to concerns about its reliability or potential misuse. Comprehensive education and communication about the technology’s benefits, security features, and transparent usage policies are essential to promote widespread adoption.
More than 90% of customers agree to enroll in Illuma Shield™ passive voice authentication. Read a recent case study to see more stats.
Cost & Effort: Pricing and implementation effort factors can’t be ignored in the discussion of voice biometrics in banking. However, many community financial institutions abandon their quest to add voice authentication to their call centers due to high costs and lengthy deployments.
Fortunately, Illuma offers a right-sized offering that is suitable for community banks and credit unions. It provides top-of-the-line voice verification software without requiring a million dollar budget or six to twelve months of IT resources devoted to a complex roll out.
Learn More about Our Affordable Voice Authentication for Community Financial Institutions.
Explore the Kind of Voice Authentication Bank Customers & Credit Union Members Love
Voice biometrics is a game-changer for the banking industry, offering an unparalleled combination of security and convenience. As the technology continues to mature and improve, banking institutions will witness a transformation in customer and member interactions, fraud prevention, and overall operational efficiency.
Implementing Illuma Shield™ drives improvements across many key metrics for banking call centers. On average, the time spent on verification is cut by at least 85%. Additional benefits include:
- Shorter average call handle time
- Reduced hold times
- Higher agent productivity
- Better customer and member satisfaction
- Decrease in call escalations
- Protect against account takeovers
With voice authentication, banking is more secure and seamless for bank customers.
To learn more, contact our team for a demo.