In today’s digital world, speech recognition and voice technology have gained enough momentum. Almost all the big organizations and even the common public are leveraging voice-based solutions to a much greater extent. And the reason behind that is pretty simple; voice-based technology solutions are straightforward and efficient to use. Not only that, but with a voice-assistant, it becomes seamless to access any website or to operate any software solution. That’s why people today are actively utilizing voice-assistants like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and so on to simplify their day-to-day tasks.
According to sources, almost 3.25 billion digital voice assistants were leveraged by the global world in the year 2019. Furthermore, this number is expected to reach nearly $8 bn by the end of 2023. That’s a significant rise! The voice technology has made working effectively not only at offices but also in homes. And for quite some time, it has also started to penetrate further prominent sectors of the global market like that of Finance. Yes, you heard it right! The finance industry has even begun to leverage the magic of voice technology to streamline their firm’s operations and market analysis. As an example, Morgan Stanley, the finance and baking giant, has effectively created a voice application that enables the user to access market insights efficiently. Apart from that, TD Ameritrade also worked hard to create a voice environment for the users that lets them retrieve market and stock price information via their voice control.
Clearly, the finance industry is benefiting the most because of voice assistants, and that’s why more and more financial companies today are outsourcing software engineering firms to create a voice assistant specifically for their business. Want to know more? Let’s discuss everything about voice technology and its impact on the financial sector.
What is Voice Technology and Speech Recognition?
Let’s start from the start, i.e., by discussing the basic terms first. So, speech recognition or voice technology is among the most powerful technologies that have gained momentum in recent years. Although both the terms are different from each other, many people, in confusion, sometimes use both the words together. So, let’s learn more about them to clear the clutter.
Speech Recognition
Speech recognition is a simple term whose main aim is to recognize the speech of the user and to showcase them the perfect result matching their needs. With speech recognition technology, the problem of not getting an appropriate word is significantly solved. Moreover, the technology is also very beneficial in the case of physically challenged users.
Voice Technology
Voice technology, on the other hand, aims to recognize the voice of a person rather than understanding the text. It is specifically used to authenticate the user by verifying their voice samples. Voice technology has been quite useful in areas where security and privacy of the users is the primary concern.
Use Cases of Voice Technology in the Financial Sector
So far, we have discussed how beneficial voice technology is for the financial industry. Let us not take a closer look at it by considering some examples. Here are some exciting use cases of voice technology in the financial sector.
1. Voice-based Accounting Services
The first and foremost example of voice technology is the voice-based accounting services that are mostly used by the banks. Today, banks and other financial institutes are leveraging voice-based applications to enable the user to access their accounts and to perform other basic accounting operations.
A trending example of this is Westpac Banking Corporation in Australia that launched a voice-based assistant; to be precise, they integrated Alexa in their daily operations. The digital marketing team of Westpac bank integrated their services with Alexa to help their customers access their bank accounts with just their voice commands. Moreover, the Alexa tool also helps the users to get all the trending financial news related to the banking world. Additionally, the banks are also working hard to integrate Google Assistant and Apple Siri to make their mobile apps further effective.
2. Voice-based Transactions
Another robust use case of voice technology is voice-based transactions. Meaning, the users can now carry out all the basic financial transactions using just their voice commands. For instance, if you want to transfer any significant amount, you can do that seamlessly by telling the app in a clear tone.
An example of that is a subsidiary of Turkey, called Garanti, a part of global brand SSVA. The company launched a mobile application called Mobile Interactive Assistance that enables the user to complete the financial transactions using their voice commands. Furthermore, the voice-based mobile app even allows the user to buy or sell foreign currency and to find out the exchange rates seamlessly.
3. Biometric Security
Last but not least, biometric security is also one of the most promising segments of voice-based applications. Well, we all know that security has always remained the topmost concern for the global market, and still tops the list in 2020. That’s the main reason that nowadays, voice-based applications are leveraged in the financial sector to keep the critical user and business data safe.
An example of that is Nuance, a robust voice biometric engine that accurately recognizes a person with their voice even if the user has logged in after a long time. That way, no third person can access the crucial information of the user’s account, and even the physically challenged people can log in seamlessly. All in all, biometric security is, for sure, a new and innovative idea that will flourish in the future years.
How is Voice Assistant Changing the Financial Industry?
The voice technology, to date, has created some robust changes and has brought some significant innovation in the financial sector. The financial industry is readily using voice technology to improve their customer services and to provide new channels for billings, payments, etc. to their users. And that’s certainly not the end, with time, the voice-based operations will significantly increase and will unlock a new level of the customer journey.
At present, the following are the areas that have already started to experience the magic of voice technology.
1. Information
It is no surprise that the financial sector is filled with valuable data and other relevant resources that may be useful for all the customers. But, accessing that data and valuable resources may seem a tedious task if it was not the voice technology. Today, a voice-based application effectively provides all the valuable market insights and articles from the banks’ website directly to the customer with a voice command.
And as the voice technology is maturing over time, we can confidently say that we will be accessing more information readily with the voice-based application. Furthermore, with this advancement in voice technology, one can seamlessly envision how these fast information flows will push forward the personalization experience in the finance industry. Moreover, the improvements, besides providing the market insights, will also let the users know what a particular trend can mean to the user based on their transactions.
2. Banking
Banking is another powerful and promising financial sector that has leveraged voice technology for quite some time now. Banks today are readily utilizing the voice-based application to enhance their transactions and to provide security to all their users. Brands like Capital One, Ally Bank, and many others have started to utilize voice-based applications and have already gained enough popularity and acceptance from their customers. For instance, whether it is entering a PIN, or authenticating themselves through their voice notes, users are readily accepting the voice-based applications.
And while talking about the adoption of voice-based apps, the critical factor remains data connection. That means the application should not only let you access your financial information but should also help you to make more informed decisions over your spendings and expenses. Ally Bank and USAA have already made strong strides in this space by offering consultation services over how to manage your business or personal expenditures and costs efficiently. All in all, if the voice-based apps will continue to penetrate and improve themselves over time, we can, without a doubt, say that the users will significantly benefit along their financial security journey. That will eventually make voice technology even more popular and will certainly increase the brand value of the organization leveraging them.
3. Advisory
Last but not least is the advisory segment that has been benefiting from the voice technology for quite some time now. Today, the advanced voice-based apps not only provide the basic account information but also offer some amazing advice and personalized suggestions on where to invest and which share to buy. One notable example in the same field is J.P. Morgan’s Alexa experience, which allows clients to access the asset pricing information in the lowest time possible.
Furthermore, with the advancements in voice technology, the financial advisory model will eventually disrupt while forcing the service to operate at different levels. The organizations that are leveraging the voice technology are now enabling the customers to ask questions over finances and market trends. Not only that, but many of them are also providing valuable reports over market insights to suggest customers over the right place to invest based on their financial position.
Voice Technology and the Financial Sector – how to start the right way?
Now that you have gained enough knowledge over what is voice technology and which all sectors of the financial industry utilize it, you might be thinking, ok, what’s next? Where to start from, and what all things to consider? Well, if you have got all these and many more questions in your mind, then don’t worry, we have got you covered! Here’s how you can start the journey of integrating voice technology in your bank or financial institution to make them more useful.
1. Perfect Onboarding Strategy
The most crucial aspect that you need to consider before stepping in the digital era of voice-based financial services is to have a solid business strategy. That’s because, even if voice technology is capable enough and is increasingly popular among people, voice-based services in the banking sector will always be a new thing for most of the consumers. And like any other new technology, voice-based applications will also need a proper onboarding strategy to make them familiar for the common users. So, make sure that you very well explain the logic and functioning of the voice-based applications adequately to all your users.
2. Personalized Digital Services
Personalized services are also amongst the most critical aspects that needed to be taken care of during the development of voice-based apps. Personalized services mean you should enable your app features on different devices that are available in the global market, and not just in some preferred devices. That’s because, often, it is seen that while many customers will eventually use the voice-assistant with a preferred device, some of them will also run these with their smartphones. And when it comes to the tech-savvy generation, they always like to get more personalized services from their service provider. Hence, you must introduce the voice-based features on all devices in an efficient way.
3. Regulatory Compliance
Staying under the regulatory compliances is also a crucial aspect that you need to address while developing a voice-based assistant for your bank or financial institution. That’s because banks and financial institutions are the most prominent sectors of the global market, and so is their functioning and user data. So, one should always try to develop a fully compliant voice-based financial app, so that it does not hinder their organization’s growth. Also, a fully regulated app will ensure that your user data remains safe, and your business runs smoothly.
4. Scalable and Customize Solution
The next big thing to consider during voice-based app development is to go for a scalable and custom fintech development. That’s because we all know that every organization has different needs and wants. And ready-made financial solutions are made to solve only the common problems of all the organizations as a whole. That’s where customized financial solutions come into play. A well designed and customized voice-based application will have every feature and functionality that is needed to solve all your organization’s goals and needs. Furthermore, you can decide which features to keep and which ones to remove, how the design will look like, and so on. So, always try to go for customized development by outsourcing an experienced software engineering firm like Matellio.
Read: https://www.matellio.com/blog/outsourcing-software-development-can-help-fintech-businesses/
Future of Voice Technology and Finance
So, we are indeed in the last section of our article. So far, we discussed what the most promising sectors of voice technology are and how it benefits various aspects of the financial sector. But, what about the future of this robust technology? This question often comes to mind for all those who are planning to invest in voice technology. Well, let’s make it more clear to them!
It is no doubt that voice technology has been gaining momentum since its inception in the financial sector. And it is no doubt that it will continue to gain more popularity in the coming time. With voice technology getting more advanced, all the aspects related to it, like the account features, the advisory functionality, and the transaction feature, will eventually improve, giving the users an edge over other people. Furthermore, with the advancements in voice technology, the banks, and other financial institutions will also be able to improve their customer service to a much greater extent. Whether for paying bills or for getting market insights, the overall operation of the banks will significantly improve, giving a new level of satisfaction to the customers. All in all, the future of voice technology in the financial sector is bright and promising.
Let’s build a Voice-based Application with Matellio!
If you are someone who is looking for any sort of financial solution or a voice-based application, then we are always here to help you. Leverage our years of experience and our expert developers to give your financial institute an amazing make-over. We can help you create compelling and cost-effective financial solutions and voice-based applications to ensure that nothing hinders your business growth. Want to know more? Visit www.matellio.com to get all your answers!
