SINGAPORE - OCBC banking customers can now speak to their Apple iPhone to activate a fund transfer.
This is possible with the roll out of a new mobile banking feature that takes advantage of Apple's Siri virtual assistant.
Fund transfers can also be initiated by sending a text message from Apple iMessage for all users of iPhone running on the latest iOS operating system.
"We are integrating payments into our customers' everyday lives and making it completely frictionless for them to engage us via actions that are second nature to them - using messaging and voice commands," said Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank's head of e-business in Singapore.
To send money using Siri, users simply need to instruct Siri with a voice command stating the person in their contact list as the recipient and the amount to send.
For instance, users can say "Pay John Tan $50". Siri will then ask the user to confirm the payment details after which the user will be guided to complete the transfer using the OCBC Pay Anyone feature in the OCBC Mobile Banking app.
To send money using iMessage, simply click on an Apps icon next to the chat box and select the OCBC Pay Anyone feature to launch it within iMessage. Tap on "Send Money" to begin payment. Then users will be directed to enter their mobile banking credentials and one-time password, and enter the amount to be sent.
The recipient will be notified via a text message with a link to a secured OCBC webpage. He will then be asked to enter a six-digit passcode provided by the sender to receive the funds. The recipient needs to provide the bank account number for receiving the funds.
As the transfer is via the Fast online interbank funds transfer system, the recipient does not need to be an OCBC account holder.
Fast has been a feature within the OCBC Mobile Banking app since 2014, allowing its customers to send money directly to any bank account in Singapore using just the recipient's mobile number, e-mail address or Facebook account. It was revolutionary because senders need not know the recipient's bank account details to make a transfer.
Since September, the transfer limited has been raised to $1,000 from $100.
