Systems and methods for facilitating network voice authentication

A computer-implemented method for use in facilitating voice authentication of a user in connection with a network transaction, the method comprising:

• prior to receiving an authorization request for a transaction:
• receiving, at a computing device, an authentication request for the transaction, initiated at a voice interactive device, from a merchant plug-in (MPI) included at a merchant involved in the transaction, the authentication request including a type of the voice interactive device and a pre-authentication indicator based on voice authentication of a user by the voice interactive device or by a voice authentication service;
• generating, by the computing device, a risk score for the transaction based at least in part on the type of the voice interactive device and the pre-authentication indicator;
• transmitting, by the computing device, the risk score with the authentication request for the transaction to an access controller server (ACS) associated with an issuer of an account to which the transaction is directed;
• and
• returning, by the computing device, a result response to the MPI, wherein the result response indicates permission to proceed in the transaction based on authentication of the user, the result response including an authentication code;
• and then,
• receiving the authorization request for the transaction from an acquirer associated with the merchant, the authorization request including the authentication code representative of the voice authentication of the user;
• and
• forwarding the authorization request to the issuer of the account.