• Banks lag far behind customers’ expectations for seamless digital onboarding
• Financial institutions (FIs) are at risk from start-ups, other competitors and open banking, unless they deliver better experiences quickly
• FIs can leverage design thinking, artificial intelligence (AI) and more to improve onboarding

As consumers become accustomed to ever-better customer experiences from everyday digital solutions ranging from Airbnb to Zalora, financial institutions (FIs) often struggle to offer equally compelling experiences. They will need to innovate fast to meet consumers’ demands.

What customers want – and expect

When retail banking customers sign up for new products, they expect an onboarding experience as frictionless and fast as at Amazon and Zalora. They want to compare products easily, get recommendations, click “buy” and get what they want.

The bank onboarding process should be fast, according to research from Deloitte, as the most fundamental attribute of an exceptional account opening experience is speed – “the faster an account is opened, the less likely the customer is to want improvement.” Banks need to give consumers clear instructions during account opening and deliver responses to questions quickly.

Beyond just delivering a new customer at the end of the process, a better onboarding experience can create solid brand confidence and make upselling or cross-selling easier.

The onboarding experience gap

While FIs have made progress, most banks are far from being able to deliver digitised processes and superior service consistently. That gap results in digital onboarding that fails for most customers, according to research by Experian, with the dropout rate for onboarding on digital channels at 85% compared to 15% for in-branch sales. Financial institutions in Asia have perhaps further to improve, as more than 50% of ...

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Keywords:Open Banking, AI, Digital Onboarding, Reatil Banking, Frictionless, Biometric, PSD2, KYC