Accessing credit card accounts made easy through Amazon Alexa

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Amazon Alexa is likely becoming a preferred channel for consumers to do their financial transactions. US-based direct banking and payment services company Discover recently announced that its cardmembers can access their credit card accounts with the power of their voices through Amazon Alexa. The new Discover skill for Alexa offers customers a convenient and hands-free way to access account information, including their recent transactions, available credit, current balance, rewards category information and payment due date.

Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that powers Alexa-enabled devices, like Amazon Echo, Echo Show, and Echo Dot, provides customers access to skills, capabilities similar to apps, but for voice. Discover customers who have linked their account to Alexa can access the new Discover skill by simply saying “Alexa, open Discover.”

“We are committed to providing our customers with valuable solutions that fit their routines, whether through our mobile app, on the web or with voice,” said Shaida Lynch, vice president of e-business at Discover. “As more consumers embrace voice-assisted technologies, like Alexa, to help manage various aspects of their lives, we’ll continue to provide solutions that meet our cardmembers’ needs wherever or however they prefer to manage their accounts.”

Alexa uses Amazon’s automatic speech recognition and language technology that allows people to use their natural voices to interact with Alexa-enabled devices. Discover customers who have enabled the skill and linked their account can ask Alexa questions or make a request posed in natural language such as:

What are my recent transactions?

What is my available credit?

What is my current balance?

What is my rewards category?

When is my payment due?

Discover is continuing to test more ways for cardmembers to manage their accounts with Alexa and will explore new commands that focus on the customer and refine the user experience.

“We are always listening to our customers and are consistently evaluating our strategies to align with their needs,” said Lynch. “As consumer use of voice-assisted technology continues to climb, we expect customer demand for new ways to manage their accounts to also grow and anticipate building out our skill’s functionality further.