Latin America is one of the most promising regions in the world for fintech. The majority of the companies in the sector have been in business for less than ten years, but year on year, the demand for financial services continues to grow– a tendency that is reflected in Latin America’s venture capital industry with billions flowing into the region. Despite the impact COVID-19 had on the global economy, investors continued to sign deals with Latin American fintechs, raising $525M in the first half of 2020.
The pandemic made it even more evident that the traditional financial sector is in need of innovation. Rapid growth can be exciting when it produces dramatic changes that make way for technological advancements. One of the ways in which fintechs can innovate is through voice technologies. Voice assistants on mobile phones, smart speakers, and other voice applications are becoming part of people’s everyday lives.
In the years to come, it will be more common for people to recur to virtual assistants to make payments, organize their finances, and even seek advice on how to invest or save money. Here are some ways in which voice technologies are transforming the fintech sector.
Engaging customers with voice assistants
Voice is one of the most natural forms of communication and also one of the hardest to replicate. However, voice technologies have come a long way and continue to evolve quickly, allowing businesses to offer more personalized experiences to their customers. Companies are turning to voice assistants to provide those experiences. Vozy’s voice AI assistant Lili creates that experience with its Neural Text To Speech technology which allows it to understand and speak eight different Spanish accents from across Latin America.
Personalized experiences leave customers with a positive impression which contributes to building their trust and loyalty to these financial institutions. Fintechs can also benefit from voice assistants as they help manage call volumes. Upon evaluating a customer query, the AI assistant is able to redirect clients to a human agent if needed, serving as an initial filter to unburden staff.
Fraud prevention via voice biometrics
Biometric identifiers are the measurable unique characteristics of an individual such as fingerprints, iris, retina, DNA, and voice. Voice biometrics capture a person’s unique speech patterns and are a convenient way to authenticate customers and reduce issues related to fraudulent activity and forgotten passwords or PINs. It allows customers to securely access their data to make transactions without the need to manually type information.
Voice payments
One of the greatest benefits of voice authentication in fintech applications is a person’s ability to multitask while making hands-free payments, balance checks, and withdrawals. While in the car, on a run, or doing other manual tasks, voice authentication makes it possible to manage your finances quickly and on the go. Voice payments create a seamless interaction between the customer and the product or service as they are able to authorize the payment with a simple voice command.
Voice technologies for financial inclusion
There are over 2.2 billion people worldwide affected by blindness and vision impairments.
Considering that fintechs are one of the key drivers for financial inclusion, voice interactions are the next step for financial institutions to truly broaden the access to banking services. Voice technologies are an excellent way for those who find it difficult to use screen-based devices to manage their money.
Conclusion
Advances in voice technologies are quickly catching the attention of fintechs because of the enormous opportunity their integration represents in terms of security, inclusion, and level of service they are able to provide to customers. As these technologies continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, increasingly financial institutions will begin to embrace them to prepare the fintech sector for the consumers of the future.
