RBC adds 'Siri pay my bills' to its app

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Royal Bank of Canada has updated its mobile app to enable personal banking users to ask Siri to pay their bills on iPhone and iPad.

The process is similar to RBC's Siri-powered P-to-P transfer service, which launched in March. Other companies are also using Siri in a to enable voice commanded transactions, such as Square, Monzo and PayPal.

Once users give the voice command, Siri confirms the name from the user's payee list, and the RBC Mobile app automatically debits the user's account and sends the payment. TouchID provides security for the app.

Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

The bank also launched seamless Interac e-Transfer payments within iMessage, powering transfers from within the iMessage window. To use Interac e-Transfer, users type the amount of money they want to send to their contact in the iMessage window and authenticate the transfer by using TouchID.

The moves are part of RBC's attempt to remove as much navigation as possible by using the device's embedded capabilities. It uses the device's built in security for authentication, removing the need for passwords and has also used virtual reality for marketing.