An article in The Jakarta Post discusses recent European research conducted by Mastercard to identify consumer use of voice-activated chatbots for payments and banking activities. The Mastercard research finds that 21 percent of EU residents have shopped, 16 percent made payments and 7 percent conducted banking using voice or text agents. The growing use of online and mobile shopping is changing shopping behavior. Now, virtual assistants, both voice-activated or text-based are making the shopping experience even easier for some.
“Voice offers a unique opportunity for business to deliver faster, easier and more convenient experiences,” said Ann Cairns, vice chairman of New York-based Mastercard.
Mercator Advisory Group’s CustomerMonitor Survey Series’ Digital Banking: Improvements Are Needed to Compete with Fintech report published in March 2018, found that 45% of U.S. consumers surveyed use either voice or text-based virtual assistants including 30% of consumers who have made any type of payments either to pay for goods or services, pay bills or send money to another person or family member. Roughly the same figure, 29% would feel comfortable using a voice-activated virtual assistant provided by their financial institution to pay a bill or make other bank transactions. Young adults are especially likely to feel comfortable doing so, mentioned by half of the young adults surveyed. Virtual assistants are already embedded in many of the devices we use regularly, including our smartphones, tablets and even in our cars and trucks, besides the speaker hubs that consumers are setting up in their homes. The need for virtual assistants, particularly when using mobile devices makes it easier and faster for consumers to perform more functions and navigate to find what they’re looking for.
Overview by Karen Augustine, Manager, Primary Data Services at Mercator Advisory Group
