We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. British bank NatWest is trialling voice-only banking, so that its customers will be able to talk to Google Assistant and ask questions such as “What’s my balance?”, “What’s my latest transactions?” and “What’s my pending transactions?” As reported by The Guardian, although the trial will only allow access to basic information, NatWest says that the technology might develop enough that customers will be able to instantly transfer money and pay bills via Google Assistant. The trial will take place over three months with 500 NatWest customers. In order to perform the task, NatWest customers will have to say aloud two digits from a four digit password - one that's different from the customer's PIN. NatWest said that Google would not store the customer's banking password, but that “other people in the area will be able to hear your balance, which is something you will want to take into consideration.” NatWest also said that the development would “bring particular benefits to those who have a disability as [it] eliminates the need for customers to use a screen or keyboard. There are also advantages for blind customers making it easier to complete tasks without the use of a screen or keyboard.” However, linking Google Assistant with banking information could be a risk when it comes to customer security. Apart from saying confidential information out loud, where it could be overheard, it was recently reported that human reviewers listen to Google Home recordings after over 1000 recordings were leaked to a Belgian media outlet. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana all occasionally sent recordings to human contractors too. Similar to the whistleblower leaking recordings to the media, it is possible that similar individuals could use access to such recordings for malicious purposes. Criminals could potentially use a recording of a customers' voice to fake a transaction, too. NatWest says that the technology could "mark the beginning of a major change to how customers manage their finances in the same way mobile banking made a huge impact," but a mass roll-out would only come after an evaluation of the trial.
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We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. British bank NatWest is trialling voice-only banking, so that its customers will be able to talk to Google Assistant and ask questions such as “What’s my balance?”, “What’s my latest transactions?” and “What’s my pending transactions?” As reported by The Guardian, although the trial will only allow access to basic information, NatWest says that the technology might develop enough that customers will be able to instantly transfer money and pay bills via Google Assistant. The trial will take place over three months with 500 NatWest customers. In order to perform the task, NatWest customers will have to say aloud two digits from a four digit password - one that's different from the customer's PIN. NatWest said that Google would not store the customer's banking password, but that “other people in the area will be able to hear your balance, which is something you will want to take into consideration.” NatWest also said that the development would “bring particular benefits to those who have a disability as [it] eliminates the need for customers to use a screen or keyboard. There are also advantages for blind customers making it easier to complete tasks without the use of a screen or keyboard.” However, linking Google Assistant with banking information could be a risk when it comes to customer security. Apart from saying confidential information out loud, where it could be overheard, it was recently reported that human reviewers listen to Google Home recordings after over 1000 recordings were leaked to a Belgian media outlet. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana all occasionally sent recordings to human contractors too. Similar to the whistleblower leaking recordings to the media, it is possible that similar individuals could use access to such recordings for malicious purposes. Criminals could potentially use a recording of a customers' voice to fake a transaction, too. NatWest says that the technology could "mark the beginning of a major change to how customers manage their finances in the same way mobile banking made a huge impact," but a mass roll-out would only come after an evaluation of the trial.