Transforming our Client Experience in Asia with Voice Biometrics Authentication

At Citi, we have a vast array of products and services that help enable growth and economic progress around the world. But when it comes to earning our clients' and customers' trust, direct interactions make all the difference. At a time when communications rarely occur face-to-face, technology like voice biometrics authentication is helping us create a better, faster, more personal experience for our clients and customers.

We are all too familiar with the identity verification process that we encounter whenever we call any financial institution's service center. Having to remember different PIN numbers and answer multiple questions can be a lengthy, even frustrating experience. Enter voice biometrics, the technology that enables instant recognition of a person based on their voice print, which is as distinct as a fingerprint. Each voice print is uniquely tagged and cannot be reverse-engineered once stored.

This technology has been around for a number of years, but bringing it to consumers on a large scale is a massive undertaking. We saw voice biometrics as a great opportunity to improve the client experience in Asia and reinforce Citi's reputation as an innovative company that brings simpler, safer solutions to our customers.

Delivering the voice biometrics technology to Consumer Banking customers in Asia required intense planning followed by aggressive execution. With 12 different markets to consider, each with its own regulations, cultures and languages, the Consumer Banking Operations team in Asia needed to partner closely with our regulators across the region. While consumer protection and privacy were, not surprisingly, significant concerns, regulators in each market fortunately recognized the immense value of voice biometrics.

In many cases, regulators recognize that voice biometrics is much more secure than the traditional means of authentication. They were actively looking for companies like us to be leaders—pushing the rest of the marketplace to implement this type of cutting edge technology, for the mutual benefit of customers and institutions alike.

In the second and third quarters of 2016, we deployed voice biometrics authentication in Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, with additional launches planned through 2017 in the rest of the region. This breakthrough will make Citi the first financial services firm to implement voice biometrics across Asia, with an anticipated 1 million customers initially adopting the technology—a number that is expected to triple over the next few years.

After opting into the voice biometrics program, customers in Asia will have their identity automatically verified within 15 seconds during future calls, as they explain their reason for contacting customer support. This means around 66 percent less time spent verifying their details—a significant improvement, both for the business and for the 35 million callers across the region each year.

Throughout the development and launch of voice biometrics authentication in Asia, we asked ourselves a question that we still ask today: Does the customer experience we provide rise to the level of what we expect in our own lives? Putting the customer at the center of our thinking—and constantly pushing for new and innovative solutions—has led to our success.

I firmly believe that when we have the courage, conviction and certainty that what we're doing is truly in the best interest of our clients and customers, then will we continue to make Citi a better place for them -- and for our own people.