Citi Vietnam launches Voice Biometrics Authentication Technology

Earlier this year, Citi introduced Touch ID, a technology that uses finger print to verify customers using Mobile Banking on iPhone. With this technology, customers do not have to memorise username and password, all is needed is a fingerprint, enhancing customer experience and reducing chances of forgetting username and password. To further improve customer convenience, Citi also introduced Snap Shot feature on Mobile Banking (available on all smartphones), provides customers the quick view brief summary of all their accounts with Citi without having to logon.

Now with the roll out of Voice Biometric which serves customers who call Citi call center, this technology is to replace the current system that involves remembering multiple personal identification number (PINs) and personal questions. Once again, Citi is the first and only financial institution in Vietnam and Asia to introduce this cutting edge technology into its daily banking activities.

“Biometrics will play a critical part in the future of banking and Citi is paving the way locally as a premier global digital banking leader,” said Natasha Ansell, Citi country officer for Vietnam. “Call centers receive increasing numbers of calls annually, of which a large portion are manually verified. We are relentlessly focused on making it more convenient for our customers to bank with us. With voice biometrics authentication, we will make the verification process easier, faster, and more secure for clients.”

Starting October, Citi Vietnam clients will no longer need to remember passwords, or personal identification numbers, or answer a series of questions to verify their identity. Instead, they can choose to enroll into Citi’s Voice Biometrics verification programme which will automatically verify the client’s identity through a unique voiceprint.

Once enrolled, customers who call into the bank’s contact centres will have their identity automatically verified within 15 seconds or less as they explain their reasons for calling. This is a reduction from an average time of around 45 seconds where customers would have to answer a series of questions to verify their identities.

The voice biometrics authentication capability identifies customers through their voice print, which, similar to a fingerprint, is unique to each person. Citi clients can opt to enroll by recording their voices, which the bank will use to generate and store their voice prints for matching subsequent calls to Citibank. Each voice print will be uniquely tagged and cannot be reverse engineered once stored.

To date, Citi’s voice biometrics system has been rolled out in several countries after an initial run in the United States. It is currently implemented in Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam is the 7th country to have voice biometrics authentication in the Asia Pacific region.

Citi has won The Best Digital Bank for Consumer Banking in Vietnam in 2015 and 2016, and Best Digital Bank for Corporate/Institutional Banking in Vietnam in 2016 by Global Finance Magazine.

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