ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, announced the launch of voice recognition service which authenticates customers based on their speech patterns and allows them to execute banking transactions through the Bank's call centre in a quick, secure and convenient manner.

The-first-of-its kind service by a Bank in the country, it is available to over 33 million customers of its savings account and credit card. With the voice recognition technology in place, customers are no longer required to enter their card numbers, PIN and answer security questions to authenticate themselves. Their voice will now act as the password for banking transactions through the call centre.

Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank said, "ICICI Bank has always been committed to bringing in new technology and innovation to its customers and the introduction of voice recognition as a means of authentication is an extension of this commitment. Our decision to invest in this new technology was primarily driven by the objective of enhancing the everyday banking experience of our customers. We have noticed that the customers, especially those who use smart phones, find it difficult to enter the 16 digit card number and the 4 digit PIN with accuracy and at a reasonable speed. We wanted to offer them a secure and hands-free alternative to the traditional on-screen commands on smart phones. The voice recognition service has the potential to increase security and convenience."