Alexa’s skill set is always growing, and while many of her newest talents make your home smarter, Amazon’s voice-enabled virtual assistant is extending outside the home, as well. The latest Alexa ability, announced today, lets you check and pay Capital One bills with your voice.
Owners of any Alexa-enabled device, including the Amazon Echo smart speaker, can now say “Alexa, ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill.” Alexa will use the pre-linked accounts to the pay your balance (sorry, you can’t tap into Amazon’s cash stockpile to pay down your bills, although that would be great).
“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 Alexa director Rob Pulciani in a statement. “More and more voice experiences are coming, and it’s only going to get better for our customers.”
The new Alexa skill also lets users learn more about their credit card account, with the ability to answer questions about their balance, recent transactions and when their next card payment is due.
While Amazon recently unveiled two new Alexa-enabled devices, Alexa’s real growth has been through these expanded integrations. Yes, she can now change the temperature in your house or get sports updates, but the real power behind Alexa comes from her open Skills Kit and the future possibilities to add an AI brain to any devices—like Ford is doing with future cars.
Capital One customers with an Alexa-powered device can enable the new skill in the Alexa mobile app or online starting today. The service works with the Amazon Echo, Fire TV and upcoming Amazon Tap and Echo Dot devices.
