Spending money just got a lot easier. Or at least, retroactively catching up with all that money you’ve already spent. Thanks to a new Capital One integration, Amazon Echo owners will now be able to access account information and pay off their debts, all via voice commands. You’ll also be able to access your home and auto loan account information through the Echo, allowing you to potentially pay off your mortgage with a voice command. So, go on that shopping spree you know you so deserve — and when you’re ready to deal with it, your smart home system will help you out.
Updated on 7-28-2016: Amazon and Capital One expand Alexa’s skills, allowing you to pay your mortgage with a smart home system
The Capital One functionality is the latest in the Echo’s ever-expanding toolkit. Using Alexa, the system’s voice-command service, you can now turn on smart lights, play music, or even set a kitchen timer. And like most women (and men as well, of course), Alexa learns very quickly — already, she’s picked up more than 100 skills and functions, with no signs of slowing.
But despite all her impressive accomplishments thus far, the Capital One partnership will be the first time that a credit card company has ventured into this voice command environment. As the Associated Press reports, “Capital One will let users check their credit card balance, review recent transactions, pay their credit card bill, and perform other tasks simply by talking to the device.”
To get started, simply link your Capital One checking account to your Echo in the setup app, and from there, you’ve got the banking world at your fingertips. You can pose questions like, “Alexa, ask Capital One for my Quicksilver Card balance,” or “Alexa, ask Capital One when is my credit card payment due?” and, of course, everyone’s favorite, “Alexa, ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill.”
Better still, thanks to the latest improvements to the platform, Capital One customers can now check their balances, find due dates for their bills, and make payments for home or auto loans, all without lifting a finger. Ask Alexa how much your next mortgage payment is, what the payoff quote on your truck is, or what the remaining balance on that boat loan is.
And while this convenience will seem like a godsend to some, Capital One is aware of the security concerns that this new integration will doubtless raise. Ken Dodelin, vice president of digital products management at the credit card company, said in an interview, “As a bank we’re very attuned to security concerns.”
You won’t be able to access your accounts willy-nilly, Dodelin notes. Rather, whenever Alexa is asked to do something related to Capital One, you’ll be expected to provide a four-digit personal key
