SINGAPORE - A local bank's customers can now ask Siri for help checking their balance and transferring money.

OCBC has launched a 'voice banking' service utilising Apple iPhone's virtual assistant.

Customers with the latest version of OCBC's latest Banking App can check their balances and credit card details, while those with the Pay Anyone app can transfer funds.

Users of the voice banking service will need to authenticate all transactions with their fingerprint or facial recognition.

"This is the new digital - conversational, more natural and faster access to banking," said Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank's Head of E-Business Singapore. " This latest service marks a major milestone in banking as it brings us one huge leap closer to making natural language voice-activated banking and payments a reality."

OCBC said on Friday (23 Feb) that the"latest innovation" is a direct response to how customers are increasingly using voice assistants on their mobile devices.

Technician A. Salim, 26: "It's practical feature for a lot of us who already use Siri and other voice assistants. I use it to make calls, plan my day, send texts. So doing banking transactions using voice banking adds to the convenience."

OCBC launched a similar service for business banking customers in October last year. The new feature is available in English.