In what’s considered a first among North American banks, Massachusetts-based Eastern Bank has publicly unveiled a voice biometrics system for its customer service centers. Eastern Bank customers are now asked to enroll their voiceprints into an authentication system that passively checks for a successful match on subsequent calls.

Eastern Bank has reportedly implemented the voice biometrics program, provided by Nuance Communications, as means to alleviate customers from having to enter passwords and answer security questions from call center agents.

“We heard from our customers that verifying their identity through answering security questions was a frustrating process – and we listened and made meaningful changes,” said Bob Rivers, President and Chief Operating Office, Eastern Bank. “Voice biometrics allows our customers to get service in the most natural and intuitive way, through their voice. The end result is a better and more effortless experience for our customers.”

Once enrolled, when a customer calls the Customer Service Center (1-800-EASTERN) they engage in natural conversation with a customer service agent while the system compares the customer’s voiceprint to a known match granting access to accounts. UK-based Barclays has also implemented a similar passive voice authentication system for high net-worth individuals in its call centers.

Indeed, customer interest is growing for new authentication methods for banking.

Leading Australian telecommunications provider Telstra announced this week that a clear majority of Americans feel that biometrics would improve banking security. According to the survey, more than two-thirds of U.S. respondents said that biometrics such as voice, fingerprint, iris and facial recognition would be more secure and help reduce the risks of fraud.

Eastern Bank appears is on the cutting edge of investing in new technologies for better customer service and to prevent fraud. Previously, Eastern Bank announced a voice biometrics-based password reset system for its employees and launched Eastern Labs, a data-driven project to spin successful technologies out into new companies.

With headquarters in Boston, Mass., Eastern Bank has 1600 employees in more than 100 locations, managing some $9.5 billion in assets banking, investments, and insurance.

Categories: Intelligent Authentication, Articles

Tags: Customer service, Eastern Bank, voice authenitcation, Voice biometrics, Nuance