ICICI Bank launches voice-based international remittance service on its Money2India application

First bank in the country to leverage on Apple’s virtual voice assistant to enable cross-border remittances; Money2India application users can now send money to any bank in India via just a voice command to Siri

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, announced the launch of India’s first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in India. With this new feature in the ICICI Bank’s Money2India app, an NRI customer can instantly initiate a remittance to his/her existing payees in India with just a simple voice command to Apple’s virtual voice assistant, Siri, on his/her Apple iPhone / iPad.

A first-of-its kind cross border remittance service by a bank in the country, it improves customer’s convenience significantly as it replaces a five-step process, which was required to initiate a remittance to India earlier.

To get the benefit of this unique offering, the customer needs to simply speak out the ‘nickname’ of the registered payee in the Money2India (M2I) app to whom he/she wants to send the money to and the amount to be sent. For example, the customer can initiate the process by simply saying “Send $100 to Mom with Money2India”. Based on this voice instruction, Siri converts the voice command to text using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and populates an interface for confirmation with the details. The customer is no longer required to enter the payee name or amount to be transferred, since he/she would be using a voice command to provide instructions to Siri.

Upon confirmation of the details by the customer, Siri passes the request to the M2I app through the Siri payment API and opens the app on the device. The customer now only needs to login into the M2I app and confirm the auto-populated details of the transaction for the money to be sent. The entire process is secured by the two factor authentication parameter of device authentication and secure login by the customer. All transactions take place on the secure servers of ICICI Bank within the M2I app itself and no confidential or financial information is shared.

Talking about the platform, Mr. Vijay Chandok, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, said, “At ICICI Bank, our philosophy is ‘Ready For You. Ready For Tomorrow’, wherein we are committed to offer innovative products and services to our customers at the fastest possible speed and with the highest level of convenience. The integration of our Money2India remittance app with Apple’s Siri is an outcome of this vision. Here, we are offering our NRI customers a unique combination of speed and an enriched experience of executing a transaction by just a voice command. We are the first in India and among few banks globally to enable customers to initiate a cross border remittance with just a simple voice command.

With the growing prominence of mobility devices in every-day life, customers are using functionalities like voice commands frequently on their devices. We believe that our customers will be delighted to have this avenue which allows them to transfer money seamlessly, while using their mobile phone, rather than engaging with a separate banking platform. We are one of the leading banks in the remittance market in India. This initiative is part of a series of digital innovations we have introduced on our Money2India application to consolidate our position as the market leader. We believe, these new features will appeal to the global diaspora due to an enhanced customer experience thereby leading to a manifold increase in remittances through our platform.”
Available 24×7 and on-all-days, this service can be used by the users of ‘Money2India’ mobile app using Apple iPhone or iPad with iOS version10 and above.

Here is how it works:
·          Activate Siri > Simply speak to it – “Send <Currency><amount> to <Recipient nickname>” (Say ‘Send USD100 to Mother on Money2India app’)
·          Confirm the details prompted by Siri > this opens the home page of M2I app. Simply login to the app using Touch id / mPin / user id & password
·          Validate details > Confirm the transaction detail, select purpose of transfer and click submit to transfer the money

Once submitted, the M2I app will transfer money from the linked bank account of the customer to the existing beneficiary’s bank account in India. In case the payee is not registered, the account number should be added as a registered payee by the remitter.

The launch of this new feature leveraging upon Siri’s voice commands comes close on the heels of a slew of technology-led innovative service by ICICI Bank on its M2I application. It recently launched the new M2I website and mobile application with a host of features, many of which are industry-firsts. ICICI Bank is a pioneer and one of the leading banks in the remittance market in India. Its ‘Money2India’ platform has been facilitating remittances into the country since the last 15 years, catering to over millions of NRIs worldwide. The Bank also has a wide array of arrangement with a host of correspondent banks across the globe to enable quick and easy trans-border money transfers.