Two major Hong Kong banks are preparing to launch biometric identification systems for their call centers.

The first is Citi, which has announced that a voice recognition system will launch next week. In announcing the move, the bank framed it as a means of improving both the customer experience and its own efficiency, asserting that by eliminating the need for customers to remember PINs and answer security questions, it will shorten calls by about 45 seconds on average.

Meanwhile, HSBC plans to launch both fingerprint- and voice-based biometric identification systems in the second half of this year. Quoted in the South China Morning Post, HSBC executive Kevin Martin explained said that “[i]n the future, we expect biometrics to become the norm for personal identification in many of our day-to-day activities, including banking.”

Indeed, the banks’ plans reflect a broader, global trend as financial services institutions in a number of countries, from Canada to South Africa, increasingly adopt voice recognition at their call centers with similar aims.

Source: South China Morning Post

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May 4, 2016 – by Alex Perala