Perhaps as a one year anniversary Jack Henry has issued a press release regarding its Symitar® division’s introduction of a new bill pay skill in its Episys® FIVE product called iPay QuickPay, which was developed and rolled out in partnership with Best Innovation Group (that was confusing!). It appears Best Innovation Group is involved in customizing the voice service for each installation:
“iPay QuickPaySM integrates Jack Henry’s consumer bill pay functionality with Alexa smart speakers, enabling consumers to securely and quickly complete bill payment activities via simple voice commands. Users start the bill pay skill, authenticate access with an established PIN, initiate payments, review scheduled payments, and request basic information about payment history.
ChoiceOne Bank, with $646 million in assets, is rolling out iPay QuickPay to its customers. Tim Shangle, digital channels and marketing officer at Michigan-based ChoiceOne, said, “I personally bought an Echo Dot and was surprised at how often it gets used, even for seemingly mundane things like setting a timer while cooking and helping my son spell a difficult word. My story is not unique to our bank’s staff or customers, and quite common in the broader market. Just as mobile phones have become a part of our everyday habits, voice banking will do the same. It’s important that ChoiceOne provide these features as the next evolution of our bill payment services.”
The iPay QuickPay solution is Jack Henry’s newest addition of transactional voice banking services. Its Symitar® division introduced a certified financial skill, Episys® FIVE, almost two years ago. One Wisconsin credit union is the latest to certify the core-integrated skill, available to its more than 180,000 members.
Chad Draheim, AVP of internet services at the $3.2 billion-asset Summit Credit Union, said, “We want to be where the members are, when they get there. Voice is growing rapidly and we’re eager to see who our most active user segment becomes. While we expect to see a strong correlation with our mobile app usage, the application of transactional voice banking can be so much broader.”
The Episys FIVE skill is enabled through Symitar’s partnership with Best Innovation Group (BIG) and built specifically for each credit union, allowing members to fulfill real transactions such as paying their mortgage, car loan or credit cards and transferring funds between accounts.
Greg Adelson, vice president of Jack Henry & Associates and general manager of JHA Payment Solutions™, said, ‘While applications of voice banking are truly just beginning to show up, Jack Henry believes they are growing and will become more sophisticated. We are happy to be a leader in developing transactional voice-enabled services for our financial institution clients, helping them to make banking more personal.’ ”
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group