Strategy & Experience Newsletter 30/08/12 - Pay By Voice. Via Asen Tsvyatkov

Pay By Voice

One of the many things Square is famous for is the ingenious data triangulation which makes it one of the smoothest acceptance experiences today. A recent NY Times article, revealed the launch of their ‘Pay With Square’ payments app, which truly bridges the gap between merchant and customer. Using the same data trinity: location, name and photo, Square extends the seamless payment service to consumers as well .No pin, no swipe, not even a NFR/NFC enabled device required – the impression one is left with is that they have very much paid by voice. Uber-analyst Mary Meeker predicted that voice-controlled interfaces will be one of the next big shifts in personal technology, and once again, her prediction rings true.

We have recently seen Spanish bank BBVA introduce a voice-controlled personal assistant, modelled after Apple’s Siri. They commissioned SRI International, the (eponymous) team behind Apple’s Siri to develop this ‘next generation of personal assistant.’ This is expected to lift a heavy load off the bank’s staff, who spend 65% of their time answering customer queries. While today voice control interfaces are mostly about interactions, they are fundamentally a new way to forge stronger customer relationships through data and auto-didactic software.  

Sources:
NY Times - Pay By Voice? So Long Wallet
MIT Review - SIRI's Cousin Works As A Bank Teller
Mary Meeker – State of The Internet 2012