Voice Tech Is Quiet, but Some Credit Unions Are Ready to Get Loud

It’s taking longer than expected for people to warm up to buying things with their smart speakers, according to new research. There are two credit unions that have been using smart speaker technology for years, and executives there say that’s just fine.

Smart speakers are still the future, they said, and members will inevitably flock to voice technology for money-related tasks.

When that will actually happen, however, is still unknown. According to new data from the New York City-based digital research firm eMarketer, the number of people paying for things via smart speaker is falling below forecasts. Back in the second quarter of 2019, eMarketer thought 23.6 million people would use their voices to spend money via smart speaker by the end of 2020. But earlier this month, the company said it now thinks that number will be more like 21.6 million. It also cut its estimate of the number of smart speaker users.

“A key reason for the revised forecast is that device-makers haven’t fully gained users’ trust,” eMarketer said. “The absence of screens on many smart speaker models is an added aspect of this problem — people often want to see products before a purchase. As a result, some voice buyers are instead opting to make purchases with other voice-controlled devices that have screens, such as smartphones and tablets.”

That idea could be one reason so many credit unions seem to be avoiding voice technology. According to a recent survey by Cornerstone Advisors, just 5% of credit unions have already deployed voice technologies. However, 24% said they planned to invest in it and/or implement it this year, and 49% have discussed it at the board or executive team level. Only 22% said it’s not even on the radar.

One of those early adopters — credit unions that already have smart speaker technology available to members — is the Spokane Valley, Wash.-based Numerica Credit Union. The credit union, which has $2.5 billion in assets and about 154,000 members, launched an Alexa skill back in Feb. 2018. It has plans to launch a skill for Google smart speakers soon.

“The adoption rate continues to be pretty low,” Numerica SVP of IT KayCee Murray told CU Times. “I often compare it to mobile, where it was like, ‘Mobile’s the next big thing, mobile’s the next big thing,” and it felt like we heard that for five years before all of a sudden it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, mobile is blowing up.’”

“I think it’s going to continue to be like that, where it’s a little bit slow. There are people that are nervous about it and are just nervous about the speakers in general. And you had that with mobile banking as well, where people were nervous about the security of it and that kind of stuff. So I think that continues to be a deterrent,” she said.

The Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Enrichment Federal Credit Union launched its voice technology in 2017, CEO Craig Peters said. A big trigger was its 2016 change in core processors. “Changing our core systems from one that was a patchwork to one that was more up-to-date has driven a lot of infrastructure changes that we’ve made here,” he said. Enrichment has $530 million in assets and about 45,000 members.

Like Numerica, its voice technology hasn’t seen huge adoption among members — yet.

“It’s probably 400 to 500 members out of 45,000. It’s not caught on with people as much as you would think, but I think a lot of it’s because they don’t know how to do it,” Peters said.

So far, the biggest mechanical hurdle for members has been the sign-up process. “If they have trouble getting set up the first time, sometimes they just go. They quit, and they’re done,” Murray said. “That’s probably the biggest deterrent or the biggest issue we run into, and a lot of times, too, you don’t know who those members are.”

But adoption rate isn’t deterring either credit union right now. More and better capabilities are on the horizon. For Enrichment, the next frontier could be bill pay by voice. Numerica members may soon be able to do card freezes by voice.

“Artificial intelligence isn’t going to go away. It’s going to grow. It just hasn’t taken off yet,” Peters said.

When it will take off is still the question, though Murray suggested it could be sooner rather than later.

“Sometimes you get people that will say, ‘Well, our membership’s not asking for it yet.’ And I think sometimes on these new features, it’s not something that your membership is going to ask for until you actually use it or they see it,” she said. “And they use it, and try it out, and go, ‘Oh. That is super convenient. I love that feature now.’”