Nuance Brings Virtual Assistant and Voice Recognition Security to Wings Financial Credit Union
Minnesota’s largest credit union will incorporate Nuance’s voice AI to serve as a virtual assistant and biometric security for customers. Wings Financial Credit Union is part of the growing trend for financial institutions to weave voice tech into their services and is working with Nuance even as the AI platform developer is currently undergoing a $19.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft,
Wings Assist
The arrangement with Nuance will give Wings customers access to a virtual assistant customized for the credit union capable of answering financial questions at any time. The AI is connected to a call center and will transfer people to a human during business hours if the AI cannot answer their questions. The interaction is preserved across different channels, so someone can have a text conversation on the website and move it to a phone call. The AI will present a human agent with the info or to a human agent without having to start over. Wings is also picking up Nuance’s Gatekeeper, a voice biometrics system. Gatekeeper uses Nance’s AI to chart and remember the sound of a person’s voice from more than a thousand factors. The tool helps keep people’s accounts secure and limits the chances of identity theft or other fraud, even if a password or other personal information is exposed or stolen.
“We recognize that our members’ expectations are changing; they’re spending more time online and predominantly interacting with us via audio and digital channels,” Wings Financial vice president Matt Vignale said in a statement. “We’re confident that Nuance’s AI technology can enhance our ability to deliver the same personalized, enjoyable experiences our members are used to receiving when visiting our branches while simultaneously protecting them from fraudsters.”
Banking on AI
Nuance points to research showing consumer behavior rapidly changing in 2020, fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for online interactions, including in banking, skyrocketed. That’s been evident in many banks as they develop and update their own virtual assistants. U.S. Bank last year launched a voice assistant for its mobile app to allows users to carry out their banking requests using conversational language and imitating the experience of talking to a bank teller. And Bank of America saw its existing virtual assistant, Erica, become increasingly popular and more often used around the same time. Wings is using Nuance’s tech to serve those needs as well.
“Nearly every financial institution in the world, no matter their size or scope, is adapting to new digital transformation strategies to keep up with rapidly changing consumer demands and expectations,” Nuance enterprise executive vice president Robert Weideman said. “Wings Financial is part of an innovative group of organizations that recognizes the value of voice biometrics and conversational AI solutions to drive growth and delight customers.”
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