1st September 2020

In 40% of Czech FIs you can use biometric data, biometric signature most of all

'Customers' demands are becoming more remote oriented and expecting agility in banking routines. Face and voice recognition technology is already helping Financial Institutions to attract new customers around the world and elevate their user experience. To answer the question of whether the face and voice recognition is applicable to them or not, the local Accenture team in the Czech Republic analysed possibilities of using these technologies by financial institutions in local conditions,” says Karel Kotoun, Consulting & Strategy manager in Accenture's financial services business.

A new level of user experience

Financial institutions around the world are trying to catch up the race with Fintechs (e.g. Revolut, WeChatPay, Alipay) by implementing new solutions like face and voice recognition because the field of facial and voice processing has been rapidly evolving and they feel an opportunity to offer a new level of user experience which can attract new customers and more agility which allows executing banking activities anytime and anywhere within few steps and minutes. Furthermore, innovations are crucial in order to compete with already mentioned Fintechs which are attractive for more and more customers due to their bureaucracy minimalism and system simplicity achieved by applied biometrics.

With the constant increase of digital interaction with banks, the user experience, is put to the front line more and more. Fintechs are now slowly reshaping their digital applications in order to offer a better and more intuitive benefiting user experience. That’s why applying sophisticated solutions based on face and voice recognition technology to an existing portfolio of services and products might improve the engagement with an existing and prospective customer base.

This is not the future, it is already happening

What is the situation? The worlds’ first facial recognition payment method was launched by a Chinese Fintech already in 2017 and the first voice recognition used for customer care purposes in 2016. Since then, the Asian market has been applying biometric methods in many ways, such as according to the latest announcements of a Japanese bank partnering with an AI solution provider who is working together on implementing facial recognition on their ATM’s.

At the European market, some use cases associated with voice assistants started in 2014 in the Netherlands with a Voice Assistant Inge. A newer example of use can be found in Slovakia, where a local bank has launched a face recognition technology in their online onboarding process in three steps only. The customer in the verification step takes a photo of the ID from both sides and then a selfie, afterwards, the algorithm evaluates if it’s a match or not. As claimed, due to that technology up to 30% of new accounts were opened using the new digital onboarding.  

Specific possibilities of use

"The possibilities of using voice and face recognition in the banking services sector are wide. In our study, we, therefore, prepared an overview of the various types of services in which these technologies can be used and the benefits and problems that this entails," says Karel Kotoun Accenture.

Here are some concrete examples:

VOICE/FACE:

-        Onboarding identity verification. Identity verification is done by making selfies taken from different angles and saying the shown digits on the screen

-        Signing contract remotely. Sign contracts with a face or voice verification on a smartphone or laptop/ PC with a camera

FACE  

-        Money withdrawal. ATM identifies the customer, when the amount of money is chosen, the verification is done by fingerprint or entering a PIN

-        Branch customization. Based on the present group of customers in a branch, the banners, light, scent, and music change. When the customer identified having a meeting with the bank advisor, the personal card will automatically open on the advisor’s screen.

-        Smile to pay. Verification of your online payment is done by a selfie with a smile. When the payment is done from PC/ laptop the request for a smile appears on a smartphone screen.

-        Facial payment in shops. If the customer is in a grocery and is about to pay at the self-serving cash machine, the POS with installed cam will identify, verify him and finish the payment

-        Digital reception. When the customer enters a branch, s/he identifies himself at the digital reception where his/her face is used to identify him/her. The software checks if the customer has an arranged appointment. If not, s/he can select a topic of the issue, and the bank advisor is informed ahead and the customer card will be loaded to his screen.

VOICE 

-        Customer identification in call centers. Before being put through an agent the client identifies himself reading a code on a screen. 

-        Virtual assistant. A virtual assistant recognizes the topic of your call and guides you through or sents you a link. 

-        Voice commands. Via voice assistants, the customer can execute bank activities or listen to bank messages being read, including notifications.

Chinese Fintechs are very innovative and the Asian market has been applying biometric methods in many ways. For example, there are some use cases for opening doors, ATM withdrawals, purchases with behavior analysis in Asia. The Czech banking sector has been very conservative, however, the pressure of non-banking institutions and customer requirements force it to push the latest technologies. How long we will wait for using for example biometrics, which is not that wide-spread, face & voice recognition that offers brand new customer experience. We are still waiting, but change is already in sight. 

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 513,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic