Amazon Pay working on advanced technologies for safer voice authentication: CEO

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Booking a train ticket from Ahmedabad to Mumbai will take just 30 seconds and one will not need to touch an electronic device, says Vikas Bansal, CEO of Amazon Pay India, digital payments arm of e-commerce major Amazon. The e-commerce major is working on using “advanced technologies” to enable “safer” voice authentication for digital payments that currently use PIN or Personal Identification Number or OTPs (One-Time Passwords).

“We are already using Alexa for voice-based payments. We are now working with advanced technologies to enhance voice authentication which will recognise and authenticate the unique voice of the user. This will replace the need for OTPs. This voice authentication will be more safer than the PIN authentication used at present. Amazon Pay is focusing on taking voice-based payments forward,” said Bansal during an interaction with the media in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

“The usage and adoption of voice-based payments is limited. But I will not be surprised if this mode of payments takes off in a big way,” he added. The voice authentication is already live on Amazon Pay and is being used for paying bills including those for electricity, DTH, broadband, piped-gas and others. “We are trying to expand it to other uses like buying tickets for travel….So we are integrating Alexa with Amazon Pay. Going forward, more voice-based payments will be integrated. So, booking a train ticket from Ahmedabad to Mumbai will take only 30 seconds, without one touching any device. This will involve payments made through voice authentication. This is the future we are looking at in next 3-5 years,” the official said. 

“Today, voice-authentication is in the early stage of development. In the US, voice authentication has taken off in a big way in some companies. Here in India, we will need a standard protocol. Just like UPI — a PIN-based protocol, we will need a voice-based protocol. Once that that is in place, this system will take off,” Bansal added.

The official said that voice-activated assistants along with payments through wearable digital devices and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) are emerging payment modes and presented opportunities for future growth and innovation in the digital payment space.