Independent Banker - March 2019 - 39

ENACOMM offers virtual personal assistant banking to
community banks, integrating with core providers and
offering a hosted, dynamic interactive voice response solution.
And a new offering from Jack Henry marries Amazon's
Echo technology with existing bill pay services to create a
voice-activated solution. The company has plans to expand
the service to p2p payments via the Zelle network this year.
" We've recognized over time there's been a growing trend
of voice technology, " explains Greg Adelson, vice president
of Jack Henry & Associates and general manager of
Jack Henry & Associates payment business units. " It's less
about the utilization, and it's more about the perception of
the offering. "
Talking the talk
But where does implementing voice banking fall in a community
bank's ever-expanding to-do list? And what are
the cost considerations? Each bank will evaluate the offering
in line with its business strategy, and every institution
is different, but experts agree that voice banking may not
immediately rise to the top of the stack.
" [Voice banking] is going to be lower in priority, " says
Kevin Tweddle, chief operating officer of the ICBA Services
Network. " It's a nice-to-have, not a have-to-have today.
That may change two or three years from now, but from
where we sit today, that's how I view it. "
Todd Wood, e-manager and digital banking manager at
$1.5 billion-asset Avidia Bank in Hudson, Mass., concurs.
The community bank has decided to offer voice banking as
a customer benefit, but it isn't expecting immediate returns.
" It's more of a value-add than a revenue generator, " Wood
indicates. " This isn't going to be, 'Everybody's going to run
in because Avidia's got voice banking.' Once fully available,
we are going to advertise to our customers, 'Hey, this can
make your life easier,' and we hope that brings in additional
deposit dollars or additional transaction usage where there
are real revenue generation streams. "
Risk vs. reward
While it may not be priority number one, voice banking-
and its array of potential offerings-may be a way to deepen
customer relationships. Paying a bill via a community
bank's Alexa feature may mean the customer shies away
from biller-centric payments and embraces a bank's billpay
offerings. If a community bank enables voice-activated
p2p payments, customers may be more likely to use their
bank's infrastructure. Ultimately, voice banking could act as
a gateway to enhanced customer engagement.
" If you look at voice banking, it really doesn't move the
needle on things like growing revenue and cutting costs, "
Tweddle points out. " But using something like voice banking
allows for a better experience for your customer base.
You're able to better please that customer just by making it
easier and simpler to do business with you. "
While things may be streamlined for customers, risk and
compliance issues are far from easy when new voice service
providers are involved.
" Compliance is definitely a big, big piece, " Wood notes.
" You hear the stories on the news where a 5-year-old
ordered $10,000 of stuff off of their smart TV by telling
Customers are speaking up
Digital voice technology
has embedded itself in
American culture and
transformed consumer
expectations, and there's
no slowing in sight.
Several reports point to
a continued rapid rise in
technology prevalence
and adoption.
46%
of Americans
use digital
voice assistants,
according to the
Pew Research
Center
34.9%
Compound annual growth
rate of the global intelligent
virtual assistant market
between 2016 and 2024,
according to analysis firm
Global Market Insights
7.5
billion
voice AI-capable
devices will be active
by 2021, Ovum
predicts
independentbanker.org Q 39
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Independent Banker - March 2019

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