This is the era of instant gratification where swiftness and convenience are the determining factors of great user experience. These can make or break your online banks.
And in this digital world, customers not only expect but also demand solutions to be delivered at lightning speed, within a touch of a finger.
Every interaction with your customers from the first click till the time they leave your bank’s site should be swift, convenient, and seamless.
“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.”
Kevin Stirtz
This is why making a good first impression matters now more than ever.
For most online banks, a smooth onboarding is a tough nut to crack but it is not impossible to deliver.
This blog will help you get a better understanding of cracking this problem and streamlining your bank’s onboarding process.
So, read on to dive into the ins and outs of optimizing customer onboarding.
What is Customer Onboarding?
The customer onboarding stage sets the tone for a good relationship with your new customers. It introduces customers to your banking products and services and guides them about how to use them.
It is an elaborate process that prepares the customers to use your services by ensuring that all the legalities and regulations are met. This is why ID verification, document collection, and KYC checks are required.
A smooth customer onboarding is one of the most crucial aspects of online banking. It strongly impacts your bank’s image and customer loyalty.
Roadblocks in Ensuring a Smooth Onboarding Process
Now that we understand what customer onboarding in banking means, let us take a look at some of the roadblocks that cause friction in the onboarding process.
Lack of a Formal Process
Despite knowing the importance and impact of digital onboarding, not a lot of banks have a structured process for onboarding customers digitally. There should be a proper, structured, and streamlined digital onboarding process in place. Dedicated legal, operations, and credit departments are a must for establishing a structured onboarding
Changing Consumer Habits
Another roadblock that causes friction in the onboarding process is the rapidly evolving customer preferences. Customers’ habits are unpredictable and tend to shift very quickly. Banks sometimes struggle to keep up with their evolving wants and reflect them in their onboarding process. Thus it is crucial to keep an eye on users’ evolving wants and needs, cater to them, and deliver a great onboarding experience.
KYC and Legal Compliance
According to reports, about 58% of financial institutions find KYC and legal compliance to be the biggest challenges in client onboarding.
Banks require customers to fill out detailed forms for KYC and other legal formalities for compliance. However, this impacts user experience as customers find the process of form filling time-consuming, complex, and boring. Banks face the challenge of striking a balance between legal compliance and a non-complex and engaging user experience.
Authentication Challenges
Verifying a user’s identity through digital onboarding is also one of the challenges that banks face. Banks must implement strong authentication measures like fingerprint recognition, face recognition, and voice recognition to verify users’ identity. This is also crucial for guarding against cyber threats.
Cybersecurity Risks
The cases of cybersecurity breaches are currently at an all-time high. Digital onboarding is prone to various security risks like unencrypted data, malware, insecure third-party services, and spoofing. Banks face the challenge of providing unbreachable security for customer information and privacy during the onboarding process.
Technical Challenges
According to reports, about 64% of banks lost revenue and business deals because of problems in their onboarding process.
Offering error-free functionality, swift loading, and seamless navigation is a must for digital onboarding. Many banks often struggle to deliver this because of poor UX design. This is why a solid UX design and technical soundness are of the utmost importance to ensure customer loyalty.
Strategies for Reducing Friction During the Onboarding Process
Here are some solutions to minimize friction in the onboarding process.
Streamlining the Steps
Simplify onboarding by segmenting each step into small and achievable tasks. Each of these steps should be non-complicated, easy to understand, and provide clear instructions so that customers do not face any problems following them along, to complete onboarding.
Leverage AI
Use AI for market research, analyzing your customer data, and keeping track of evolving customer preferences. This will help you offer services that customers want, ultimately boosting brand image and loyalty. Not only this, AI can also help you offer round-the-clock support, answering general inquiries and elevating your overall banking experience.
Automation
To streamline KYC and legal compliance without compromising on user experience, banks can leverage digital solutions like automation tools. These automation tools make the form-filling process less boring by reducing manual data entry and simplifying the process. Automated workflows also proactively monitor for any regulatory changes, making sure the bank follows the latest regulations without making things difficult for customers.
Implementation of Biometric Technology
Biometric technology offers a secure method for verifying the identities of individuals during digital onboarding. With the increased risk of imposters signing up remotely, biometrics provide confidence by measuring unique physical or behavioral characteristics. This can involve biometric passports or driver’s licenses, comparing ID pictures with fingerprint or face scans.
Biometric data can also be used for identity verification in key banking transactions such as fund transfers or digital payments. Biometric verification also guards banks and customers against cyber threats like phishing, session hijacking, man-in-the-middle attacks, and malware.
Personalization
Customized onboarding elevates the banking experience tenfold. Offer services customers are looking for by analyzing the data you have collected from them initially. This makes a solid first impression, makes the customers feel valued and understood, and ultimately boosts loyalty and your bank’s image.
Final Thoughts
Initiating a customer’s banking journey should be smooth and simple. It sets the stage for their whole relationship with the bank. This first stage matters a lot because a smooth ride can make all the difference.
We live in a digital age where people want things to be quick and easy. That’s why banks should focus on making their customers happy. They should also embrace innovative ways to enhance user experience.
This will not only streamline customer onboarding but also help banks win their customers’ long-term trust and happiness.
Elevate your Banking Experience with f1Studioz
f1Studioz, with our top-notch team of design experts, has been transforming the banking experience for leading brands for over a decade.
Our list of happy clients includes popular names like Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, OakNorth Bank, Robinhood, and OneInsure
We are the best in the game for delivering exceptional results. From crafting a seamless onboarding process to elevating the overall user experience of your platform, we have got you covered through our expertise.
If you are ready to experience the ultimate digital success, let’s have a chat!
Visit us at f1Studioz.com!
