"My voice is my password" - The uniqueness of voice recognition

Some 600 million people worldwide are forecast to be signed up to "voice recognition" (VR) by 2020.

The business benefit is that customers can be authenticated quickly, enabling organisations to deal with a greater number of calls and reduce fraud through identity theft. 

Although I'm from the pre-computers/baby boomer generation, I'm not completely a technological dinosaur! After a few technical teething issues were ironed out, I have recently become a convert to "voice recognition (VR)" security. 

Why have VR?

Companies say it makes accessing your account fast and easy – plus it reduces fraud.  

When was VR introduced?

It seems that Barclays Bank became one of the first major corporations to adopt voice recognition technology for its telephone banking customers (instead of standard pin codes) in August of 2016.

What is VR and how does it work? 

Also known as “voice biometrics,” it confirms your identity by analysing your voice’s unique characteristics.

“Voice recognition(VR), a form of biometric software, is a more secure form of banking protection because our voices are unique. Each voice has a set of around 100 characteristics,” IT experts tell us: “Half of those are physical characteristics -- shape of the mouth and throat -- and the other half are behavioral characteristics of sound and words used.”

They claim it is as unique to an individual as a fingerprint, and that their systems even recognise people if they have a cold or sore throat.

When a customer’s “voice print” has been captured, the bank system can then use it to match against other phone calls in the future. Despite what some may assume, it’s impossible to mimic a voice and cheat the system.

Aside from fingerprint scanning and voice recognition software, other (less frequently used) forms of biometric security include iris recognition, vein-pattern detection and even heart beat detection. 

With millions of us accustomed to shouting commands at Alexa and Siri, it’s probably not surprising that voice recognition services, offered by banks and other organisations, are taking off in a big way.

Last September (2018) HMRC had  signed up about 6.7 million people to its voice identification (or “voice ID”) service.

HSBC says it has more than 10,000 people registering each week.

Lloyds Bank, HBOS, Vodafone and TalkTalk are just a few of the other big names that have brought in, or are rolling out, these services. 

How do I register for VR?

Banks are giving people the option to access their own accounts simply by using their voice. If you use the service you can now say goodbye to hard-to-remember passwords and pin codes.

When a customer first signs up, their bank (or whichever company it is) will make a recording of their voice over the phone. For example, with HSBC and HMRC you are asked to repeat the phrase “my voice is my password” up to five times. Then what typically happens is that the next time you phone, you won’t need a password – you will just need to repeat that phrase.

Surveys repeatedly show that customers prefer this sort of authentication over pins, passwords and security challenge questions. It claims that “even professional voice imitators can’t fool our system”, and will generate an alert if it detects synthetic speech or a recorded voice.

Specialist analysts Opus Research expect the number of people worldwide that have enrolled, to jump from about 160 million in 2017 to about 600 million by 2020.

HSBC have confirmed that the new system has significantly cut the amount of telephone fraud, with almost 8,000 attempts identified, and more than £200m of customer funds protected.

Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax, rolled out its VR service gradually in 2018, and it has been successfully used about one million times to date. It adds: “This will make a significant difference to vulnerable customers who may sometimes struggle to pass security with pins or memorable information. Our oldest registered customer is 100.”

Some believe you can use something like a voiceprint as an additional method of confirming someone’s identity, “but it shouldn’t be the only one. Simply the voice alone, I think, isn’t enough ... we need financial institutions to be a little more sceptical about it.”

HMRC stated :“Voiceprints are encrypted and stored in a secure database behind the firewall, just like any other sensitive customer data.” All data, it says, is stored in the UK.

In conclusion, the main reasons that I have personally adopted Voice Recognition are:

• Although not foolproof, it is a more secure form of banking protection because our voices are unique. 
• The customer benefit is that calls are shorter
• There is increased protection from identity theft, and 
• There is no longer a need to remember yet another password! I can now say goodbye to hard-to-remember passwords and pin codes.

A compelling argument in favour, don't  you think?