The first such service in the region, the application allows customers to transfer payments using Siri, Apple's virtual personal assistant.
Mashreq Bank has launched a new mobile banking service which allows customers to transfer payments using Apple's virtual personal assistant, Siri, the United Arab Emirates-based bank said on Monday.
Users of the service will need to download the new iOS10 update on their smartphone and register for voice banking services, the bank said in a statement. Afterwards, they will need to tell Siri how much they wish to transfer and to which account. The transaction will be confirmed using either the user's smartphone password number or thumbprint identification.
As part of the service's security settings, funds can only be sent to contacts already registered on the user's bank account and with a limit of up to 500 dirhams ($136).
"We are proud to be the first bank in the UAE to announce this feature. The new addition underlines our continuous efforts to make Mashreq banking experience an even more enhanced and interactive one - and the result is that our customers can now transfer money in much more simpler form," Aref Al Ramli, Mashreq's head of electronic banking and innovation said in the bank's statement.
Mashreq is the oldest bank in the UAE and has branches across the Emirates, as well as Europe, United States, Asia and Africa.
Launched by Apple in October 2011, Siri is a computer program which works as an intelligent personal assistant and can answer questions made by users, as well as carry out verbal orders and tasks.
