NAB and Westpac just made checking your credit card balance a breeze with Amazon Alexa integration
“Alexa, what’s the balance on my credit card?”
This could be a much more common question from Australian banking customers in the near future, but the catch is that it won’t be to a customer service rep - instead it would be aimed at Amazon’s voice-activated personal assistant, Alexa.
With the announcement from NAB and Westpac last week that they will provide integration between their respective online banking platforms and Alexa, Australians with an Alexa-enabled device will soon be able to use the assistant to answer a range of financial queries including their credit card and bank balances and even if they have been paid.
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“We know our customers want a seamless banking experience that fits with their needs and complements their lifestyles,” said George Frazis, Chief Executive, Consumer Bank at Westpac.
“As more people adopt innovative voice-activated technologies in an increasingly mobileworld, we are excited to be one of the leaders in this space providing secure, easy to use, cutting edge banking services for our customers.”
The announcement by the two big banks is just the latest in a number of recent technology-based banking developments, including the much-awaited New Payments Platform (NPP) which is expected to launch in the next week.
Despite the new level of convenience voice-based banking integration is likely to provide, customers still have a wait ahead of them before they will be able to transfer money or make payments using Alexa.
“This is NAB’s first step in providing ‘authorised information’ for customers, after we were the first major Australian bank to launch our Google Assistant app a few months ago, which focused on publicly available information,” said Jonathan Davey, NAB’s Executive General Manager Digital & Innovation.
“In the future, we certainly see this experience turning into one where you can pay bills, make funds transfers or even purchase items at the command of your voice.”
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Customers with Westpac or NAB who are interested in taking advantage of the technology can pre-order the Amazon Echo range (which use the Alexa system) now, or wait for the official launch in February.
Think you’ll be in for a rude shock when you check your credit card balance for the first time using Alexa?
One way to ditch your credit card debt for good could be by opting for a balance transfer. To compare a range of balance transfer offers make sure you head over to the Mozo balance transfer credit card hub.