Amazon Echo Can Now Pay Bills And Check Balances With Capital One

Amazon Echo owners will soon be able to ask Alexa to pay their bills without getting up from the sofa. Capital One revealed Friday that it will be the first company to offer financial services through Amazon’s voice-activated personal assistant, meaning customers can command Alexa to manage their finances entirely hands-free.

The service works with any Amazon device that supports the Alexa assistant, most notably the Echo home speaker. From anywhere in the room, a user can speak a supported command like “Alexa, ask Capital One for recent transactions on my checking account” and get a response.

Since its release in July 2015, the Amazon Echo’s capabilities have rapidly expanded. Additions to the Alexa “skills store” also improve Amazon's Fire TV, Echo Dot and Tap products, all of which are powered by Alexa. With Capital One, the store now has more than 100 “skills” available.

Users who want to access their Capital One accounts will need to visit the Alexa app on their smartphone or tablet, or go to the Alexa website. There, they should be able to enable the Capital One “skill” and input their bank credentials to authenticate the device.

“The Alexa Skills store is quickly growing, and today we’re excited to add the Capital One skill – which is the first skill that will enable Alexa users to interact with their financial accounts,” said Rob Pulciani, director of Amazon Alexa, in a press release. “More and more voice experiences are coming, and it’s only going to get better for our customers.”

The Amazon Echo is available from Amazon for $179.