Why you need to fully digitize your account openings

It’s not uncommon to find both manual and digital steps in account opening and onboarding processes. However, this hybrid approach slows things down and creates unnecessary frustration with prospective customers.

Consider, for example, the experience of a new applicant when opening an account. They may be asked to submit their information online, and then are prompted to complete various forms sent to them via email. These forms may not be editable, which requires the applicant to print them and fill them out manually. Then, they need to scan and email those forms back or bring the completed forms to a physical branch location.

Add to this the fact that some prospective customers may also be prompted to visit a branch to present a government ID, and there’s little mystery about why abandonment occurs when what should be a seemingly straightforward process requires a lot of legwork over several days.

By leaning into technology to fully digitize the account opening and onboarding processes, financial institutions can deliver a greater user experience, minimize abandonment, and maximize cost savings. Here’s how.

Deliver a better digital banking experience

Across the financial services landscape, customers and clients want access to digital options. Take wealth management, for example. 90% of investors report that mobile will be their preferred investment channel.

If your account opening process includes a combination of both manual and digital steps, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Ask yourself:

• Are you offering the type of experience today’s customers want?
• Are disconnects between manual and digital steps causing friction and frustration for both customers and employees?
• Are your digitally enabled competitors gaining an advantage?

It’s worth noting that it’s not just financial institutions that are feeling the demand from customers to conduct business online. In fact, a lack of smooth digital experiences can impact both perception and satisfaction for insurers and other accounts-based organizations. Consumer insights leader J.D. Power found that customers were three times more likely to feel their insurance claims process was slower than expected if regular updates were not communicated to them through digital channels.

Several tools — such as digital ID verification, eSignature, and smart digital forms — can help you create and deliver a better account opening and onboarding experience. For example, real estate transactions offer the opportunity for every party involved to have a better experience because of the sheer number of forms that need to be signed; rather than manually signing each document, leveraging an eSignature solution can speed up the process.

Maximize time and cost savings with the right technology

With the right technology, account opening and onboarding processes can be completed in minutes instead of days. Consider the example we previously shared regarding the new applicant. Rather than a hybrid digital account opening process, organizations that offer a fully digital experience allow the new applicant to submit their information online once, verify their identity quickly and easily with a government-issued ID, and submit necessary signatures without needing to step foot in a physical branch location.

This fully digital experience relies on various technologies to ensure the financial institution can meet customer expectations, while also allowing the organization to enjoy higher completion rates and faster cycles.

• Smart digital forms — Streamline data capture by turning static PDFs into dynamic smart forms and agreements. Ensuring these forms are mobile-ready, you can amplify the customer experience by giving new customers the ability to complete their application anywhere from any device.
• Digital ID verification — Approximately 46% of organizations worldwide experienced synthetic identity fraud in the past year. Protect the customer and your organization with appropriate security measures to mitigate the risk of fraud and impersonation by leveraging real-time identity verification to meet necessary Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.
• eSignature — Enable secure eSignatures to deliver a seamless digital account opening process while optimizing costs. When a secure eSignature solution is paired with smart digital forms, it enables a frictionless customer experience.

By leveraging various solutions to fully digitize the account opening and onboarding processes, new applicants can open an account in minutes instead of days. In fact, Bank of Montreal eliminated manual processes from its approach to account opening, which enabled its customers to open an account within eight minutes. This reduction in time and internal staff support allowed the bank to save millions of dollars.

Embracing the digital account opening process

Digital account opening and onboarding are necessary for today’s financial services and insurance organizations. Customers are accustomed to making financial transactions at their fingertips and have little patience for outdated processes, especially those that rely on tedious paper-based processes and moving through steps through various mediums.

To stay competitive in 2025 and beyond, organizations must prioritize digitizing the account opening and onboarding processes. This not only helps meet customer expectations but also saves your organization time and money.

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