Voice biometrics in the finance industry

A survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that about 1.2 million people - almost 7% of adults and teenagers - said they had been the victim of personal fraud in 2011, with losses from credit card fraud, identity theft and personal finance scams totalling $1.4 billion.

For those operating in the financial services industry, security and detecting fraud will always be of paramount importance. The challenge is how to protect the bank and the customers’ personal and financial access while also creating a positive customer experience with short call times and without the sometimes annoying security questions.

Given the fierce competition between the banks, providing engaging customer service is of upmost importance. Done well and done consistently, it can lead to long-term customer loyalty and higher levels of satisfaction.

Banks have the difficult task of streamlining customer engagement so that customers don’t feel inconvenienced or have their time wasted while ensuring appropriate security measures are in place. Traditionally, this has meant callers needed to identify themselves by answering a series of questions which many find frustrating, especially if they have already spent a considerable amount of time on hold. This process can also cause stress for the agent if the conversation with the customer starts off poorly. And the quality of conversations is crucial for a brand, as it is now well accepted that customer service and communication are intrinsically linked to an organisation’s reputation.

When used correctly, technologies such as speech recognition and voice biometrics can speed up the customer identification process, more accurately route calls through to the most relevant person and provide higher levels of security.

Voice biometrics is able to authenticate callers from their voiceprint - a sample of an individual’s voice is recorded through an enrolment process and then analysed, measured and stored as a detailed model of their speech pattern. Voice biometrics can measure the unique representation of the characteristics that make up an individual’s voice and, unlike a PIN or password, cannot be forgotten. All future calls are then analysed against the voice print to verify the caller’s identity.

This technology assists companies to create real business outcomes: reducing handle times for agents, reducing the need for frustrating question-answer security questions, decreasing the time taken for a caller to get down to business and reducing their effort, which directly correlates to customer satisfaction.

From a customer perspective, voice biometrics means less time on the phone. From the bank’s perspective, voice biometrics adds value by reducing the average handling time per call, freeing up staff to resolve other matters and, of most significance, the ability to deter fraud.

*Brett Feldon is CTO - Speech Solutions at Salmat.