You can ask Alexa to order you a pizza and get more laundry detergent, and soon, Capital One customers who own an Amazon Echo will be able to access their accounts to pay bills and get other information by speaking to their device.
While Alexa can do a slew of common things like ordering groceries or turning on smart lights, the Capital One service marks the first time a credit-card company has paired with the Echo, the Associated Press notes.
Users will be able to check their credit card balance, review recent transactions, pay their credit card bill and do other stuff one might need to do when dealing with a credit card.
Echo owners can sign up through the Amazon Echo setup app, where you can link your checking account for paying credit card bills. Then, it’s simply a matter of commanding Alexa to do something like, “Ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill.”
So what if some stranger happens to be in your home — is the service secure, or could just anyone ask Alexa to have Capital One hand over all your personal info?
Ken Dodelin, vice president of digital products management at Capital One, told the AP that the service is secure.
“As a bank we’re very attuned to security concerns,” he said.
When a user asks Alexa to do anything related to Capital One, they’ll have to cough up a four-digit personal key that users set up when they turn on the feature. It’s not a mandatory safeguard, but the default mode is always set to on.
After you’ve recited your key, the Capital One session will be unlocked for five minutes. At that point, you have to repeat the key.
The service will work with Alexa on the Echo, the Amazon Tap, and the Echo Dot, as well as Amazon’s Fire TV Devices.
Capital One to let users pay bills via Amazon’s Echo [Associated Press]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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