Dulcet tones are the password to biometric banking

Barclays said that voice biometrics has become its primary source of identifying Barclays Wealth and Investment Management clients in the United Kingdom, and it has enrolled more than 10,000 clients who can be identified by their voice.

People who bank with HSBC and online bank First Direct in the United Kingdom will be able to access their accounts through voice recognition when making a telephone call and touch ID through the mobile app.

Typing in a password to access accounts could soon be a thing of the past for millions of First Direct and HSBC customers as it introduces biometric banking using voice and touch.

If remembering a bunch of different passwords is something you find challenging, you may welcome this decision to roll out other ways to access your bank account.

HSBC’s First Direct service will start rolling the feature out to customers in the coming weeks before the rest of HSBC follows in the summer.

The company claims it will roll out the tools to its 15m customers.

HSBC has told the BBC that it is going all-in on biometric security, replacing both passwords and memorable questions with a combination of Touch ID and voice-recognition.

A similar voice-activated payment system was launched a year ago on the ING Netherlands mobile banking app, offering an alternative to entering a pin or password.

Some 38 per cent of Britons said to do so, according to a YouGov poll released by HSBC today, while 55 per cent said they rarely update their passwords. Around three quarters are confident their body is unique enough to be used as a password and it will become the default method of the future (78 per cent and 74 per cent respectively).

Our voices and fingerprints are unique, with physical and behavioural characteristics nearly impossible to mimic.

McDonagh has described the move by HSBC as “the largest planned rollout of voice biometric security technology in the UK”.

The system can also function is a customer is not feeling well and there voice has changed as a result.