Aussie bank Westpac rolls out services on Amazon Alexa
Westpac, one of Australia’s largest banks, has teamed up with Amazon to enable basic banking services on Alexa-enabled devices.
The project, named Westpac Banking Skill, has seen the development of a range of functions such as account balance and recent transaction updates, while it also enables users to receive Westpac’s finance industry news bulletins.
Rob Pulciani, Director, Amazon Alexa said: “Alexa can help make many daily tasks simpler, including things like checking your bank account, getting news, and more. We’re excited that Westpac is bringing banking capabilities for Alexa to customers in Australia.”
However, customers cannot, at least for now, transfer funds or make payments via Alexa, though the two companies will continue to work on increasing functionality as the cooperation develops.
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George Frazis, Chief Executive, Consumer Bank at Westpac, said: “We know our customers want a seamless banking experience that fits with their needs and complements their lifestyles.
“As more people adopt innovative voice-activated technologies in an increasingly mobile world, we are excited to be one of the leaders in this space providing secure, easy to use, cutting edge banking services for our customers.”
This is one of several recent digital projects currently being explored by Australian bank. In November, it partnered with fellow lenders Commonwealth and NAB to develop a new payment app that enables free instant payments to consumers and small businesses, regardless of who they bank with.
Westpac also launched a new range of wearable payment devices around the same time, in response to research that Australia has the highest contactless payments penetration in the world.
