Nuance Voice Biometrics Quickly Identifies Customers and Strengthens Security for National Australia Bank

BURLINGTON, Mass. and SYDNEY, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuance® Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia's major banks, is leveraging the world's most advanced biometrics solution for authenticating customers and enabling fraud detection, Nuance Gatekeeper, to improve the customer experience and strengthen the bank's security standards around customers' authentication processes.

Nuance biometrics and security solution powers NAB's VoiceID service that authenticates NAB customers' voices in seconds, helping to prevent fraudsters from accessing bank accounts using a customer's credentials or information. NAB's users choosing this authentication process will record their unique voiceprint simply by talking to a NAB banker on the phone. While the customer is speaking, the underlying technology will identify more than a thousand behavioral and physical vocal traits such as pronunciation, tone and pattern, and capture the distinct characteristics in their voice to create a unique voiceprint. The encrypted voiceprint will be securely stored and used to easily identify a customer the next time that individual calls in.

"We are pleased to partner with Nuance to provide customers with simple, fast and secure ways to go about their banking. We now have around 120,000 customers enrolled since VoiceID went live in November 2019 and we are targeting 250,000 customer enrollments by the end of 2020. As the first major Australian bank to offer VoiceID in its contact center, this technology is helping us improve the experience our customers have when they call by spending less time on the authentication process and more time helping them with their needs," said Paula Constant, Executive General Manager Consumer Direct at NAB.

With so many different characteristics, the human voice provides one of the safest ways to verify callers' identities. Nuance Gatekeeper analyzes more than 1,000 characteristics of a voice and also uses its intelligent detectors to cross check an individual's device, geolocation and pattern of speech, while certifying it is a real person and not a recording or synthetic creation. Biometrics removes the need for knowledge-based passwords and security questions that hackers can easily steal or guess, bringing NAB customers higher security standards and convenience by focusing on who they are versus what they know.

"With eleven online accounts and nine different passwords per person on average, passwords are becoming overwhelming for consumers to manage. Biometrics offer a win-win solution, with a simpler way for consumers to access sensitive services like banking, and a secure alternative for businesses," said Brett Beranek, General Manager, Security Business, Nuance Enterprise. "We are proud to see NAB leveraging Nuance Gatekeeper to bring their customers more convenience while securing financial and personal information in today's digital society."

Nuance technology is being implemented by more than half of the world's largest financial institutions today, and 8 of the 10 largest global telecommunications companies. NAB joins the growing list of leading enterprises successfully leveraging Nuance's biometric solutions including the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), HSBC, RBS, TalkTalk, Vodafone Turkey and Deutsche Telekom. Over 500 million consumers make more than 8 billion successful authentications yearly and Nuance biometrics has already prevented over $2 billion worth of customers' money from getting into the wrong hands. Nuance biometrics solution Gatekeeper also was recently recognized with the GLOMO Award.

For more information on Nuance Gatekeeper, click here.

For more information about NAB VoiceID, click here.

About NAB

For 160 years, we've been helping our customers with their money. Today, we have more than 30,000 people serving nine million customers at more than 900 locations in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. As Australia's largest business bank, we work with small, medium and large businesses to help them start, run and grow. We fund some of the most important infrastructure in our communities - including schools, hospitals and roads. And we do it in a way that's responsible, inclusive and innovative. You can find out more about how NAB backs our community by visiting: nab.com.au/backingcommunities

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the pioneer and leader in conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand, analyze, and respond to people - amplifying human intelligence to increase productivity and security. With decades of domain and AI expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations globally across healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, government, and retail - to create stronger relationships and better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contact Information

For US Press
Katie Byrne
Nuance Communications, Inc.
Tel: 781-565-5000
Email: katie.byrne@nuance.com

For International Press
Vanessa Richter
Nuance Communications, Inc.
Tel: + 32 475 76 96 07
Email: vanessa.richter@nuance.com

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SOURCE Nuance Communications, Inc.