Telephone banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that enables customers to perform over the telephone a range of financial transactions that do not involve cash or financial instruments (such as checks) without the need to visit a bank branch or ATM.
Telephone banking became commercially available in the 1980s, first introduced by Girobank in the United Kingdom, which established a dedicated telephone banking service in 1984.
Customers would call the special phone number set up by the bank and authenticate their identity through the customer number, a numeric or verbal password, or security questions asked by a live representative.
The service can be provided using an automated system, using voice recognition capability, DTMF technology, or by live customer service representatives.
In India, a variation of telephone banking utilizing missed call numbers assigned to specific tasks (such as checking balances or performing money transfers) is offered by major banks.