Citibank Thailand have introduced voice recognition as a quicker, more secure way of authenticating customers’ identities.  Currently it takes their CitiPhone banking officers over a minute to confirm a customer’s identity.

Under the new system it will take 15 seconds, thus speeding up transactions considerably. Citibank believe that the increased security will attract new customers as well as giving their existing customers a better service.

They stressed that the service is voluntary and customers can use the existing service should they wish to do so. For higher-risk financial transactions, such as changing personal data, customers will still be asked their identification questions as added security.

To register for the new system, customers simply call the CitiPhone banking service and agree to the terms and conditions.. They will then be asked some security questions and at the same time a unique voiceprint will be recorded.

An e-mail or text message will be sent to the customer within 2 to 4 hours so that the service can be activated.

Citibank anticipate that initially around 20 to 30 percent of its customers will register immediately.They then expect that number to steadily increase as consumer confidence in the system grows.

The system is so high-tech that it can recognise when a voice is being imitated and access is immediately denied.

The company expects to have over a million customers in Asia-Pacific using the voice recognition service in the next twelve months.

It is a big step forward in the banking business and obviously most other banks will be following suit.

(Thanks to the Nation, Thailand)