'Hey Siri, pay Aunt Maud £150': Barclays launches first voice-activated banking

An iPhone with Siri
Only Barclays customers with an iOS device enabled with TouchID and using iOS 10+ can use the Siri banking function

Barclays customers can now use Apple's virtual assistant Siri to make payments on their mobile phone, with a simple command such as "Hey Siri, Pay [Sarah] £15 with Barclays".

It is the first UK high street bank to introduce the feature, which gives customers the option to pay existing payees or mobile contacts without having to open the banking app or put in any passwords.

Instead, Barclays mobile banking customers can use their voice to ask Siri to make a payment, and then authenticate it with Apple’s touch ID fingerprint recognition.

However, only customers with an iOS device enabled with touch ID and using iOS 10+ can use the Siri banking function. Touch ID is available on iPhone 5s or later versions.

Barclays said the technology will enable customers to send money "virtually hands free".

Almost 20m Britons banked on smartphone apps last year as mobile transactions surged by 57pc, according to data from the British Bankers’ Association and accountancy giant EY.

Some 38pc of the adult UK population used a banking app in 2016 as the number of people turning to their smartphones to manage their personal finances climbed by 11pc on the year to more than 19.6m.

TSB announced last month that it is to become the first bank in Europe to introduce iris recognition on its mobile banking to make it easier for customers to log on.

From September, customers with a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ smartphone will be able to unlock their banking app using the Samsung Pass iris scanner. Iris scanning is thought to be the most secure form of biometric authentication, with 266 unique characteristics compared with just 40 for fingerprints.

HSBC and Barclays are among the banks that currently offer fingerprint touch ID for customers to login to online banking.

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