Paying a mortgage is the stereotypically frustrating and demoralizing part of homeownership. All that money down the drain each month can seem like a waste, especially if you don’t love the house, but at least Amazon and Capital One are making mortgage payments a little bit more convenient.
CNET is reporting that Amazon and Capital One have doubled down on an early integration that allows users to check their credit card balances with nothing but their voices and connected accounts. Now, a new Alexa skill will let eligible users link their home and auto accounts to their Echo devices, which will allow them to ask for information on upcoming and scheduled payments and to post payments of their own.
Due to the sensitive nature of this latest Alexa skill, Capital One built in some light security protections like requiring a 4-digit PIN before the Echo reads any revealing information out loud.
That’s hardly the security of a three-inch thick bank vault door, but in the age of Amazon-inspired convenience, it might be the kind of trade-off for luxury that consumers have to get used to.
