Alexa Voice Banking Comes To Canada

Central 1 Credit Union (CU) announced in a press release that it has launched “Canada’s first-ever, authenticated voice banking service using Amazon Alexa.” The CU’s clients, Innovation Credit Union and Conexus Credit Union, are “piloting the technology that allows customers to use their voice to command actions for their bank accounts,” such as making payments, sending money to vendors, transferring money between accounts and more.

“We’re committed to providing our clients with top-of-the-line, cutting-edge technology and services,” said Mark Blucher, president and CEO of Central 1, said in the press release. “As an organization at the forefront of FinTech innovation in Canada, we’re thrilled to showcase our authenticated voice banking solution that, as we continue [to] provide the technology to more clients, will add ease and accessibility to the banking experience.”

The CU’s Mobile Banking and Payments team followed the best practices in design, customer experience and lean principles during the development of the technology. The work was done with Point One Digital, a design agency from San Francisco.

“Innovation Credit Union believes that Conversational UI is going to play a significant role in future member interactions, particularly with millennials and Gen X,” said Dean Gagne, chief digital and technology officer at Innovation Credit Union. “This is why Innovation has been such a big supporter of this Central 1 initiative.”

Innovation and Conexus will be testing the Amazon Alexa voice banking service, and there are plans to release the technology to all members in the fall.

“Conexus Credit Union is passionate about providing the solutions that make a meaningful difference for our customers, so we are thrilled to be able to offer authenticated voice banking via Amazon Alexa,” said Jeremy Trask, chief digital officer of Conexus. “Partnering with Central 1 means we’re able to ensure our customers are getting access to game-changing technology and services that improve banking experiences and financial health.”