Blog: Digital Onboarding in Empathic Banking

Digital Onboarding – one of the fundamental components of empathic banking

Digitisation permeates every area of banking and digital onboarding of new clients has become a major trend in recent times. It allows potential customers of financial products to set up an account online or via a mobile app in a matter of minutes – with no need to actually visit a financial institution or bank advisor or physically sign any contracts.

The key to success for banks is to be as close as possible to its clients and to be able to meet their needs in real time, but empathic banking is not just serving existing clients, it is also crucial to be able to accommodate potential new clients and enable them to set up a new financial product (primarily a bank account) easily, quickly and immediately whenever the client is interested in doing so. Digital onboarding offers something like this from the comfort of your sofa or even riding a tram. According to studies, 10 minutes is the maximum length of time for the set up process to be perceived as a positive experience for the client.

The added value of digital onboarding

The option to fully digitise the opening of an account significantly increases convenience for the client, demonstrates the bank’s technological advancement and can be a factor that tips the scales of the client’s decision-making when it comes to who they should trust with their money. Digital onboarding of new customers is also a major advantage for the bank itself. Digitisation of processes usually saves money and the same goes for the digital onboarding of clients.

A bank’s ability to bring a new client into its service ecosystem without needing someone to be actively involved at a branch is a significant factor that reduces staffing requirements and simplifies things for the branches. The faster a bank grows, the more resources are saved through digital onboarding allowing the bank to invest in other innovations and move even further ahead of its competitors.

Leaving savings to one side, digital onboarding is a logical and important ingredient for a bank’s growth. The fewer barriers put up for a potential client to open an account, the higher the likelihood that they will go through the entire process of setting up a financial product and become an actual client.

If someone can open an account while travelling to work or in front of the TV during the evening, they are far more likely to set up the financial product than if they have to arrange a meeting at the bank, take time off of work to go, and then spend time dealing with paperwork at the counter. In short, convenience rules and it is no different in the banking world.

About the Author

@Lubomír Tomány
Product Manager, BSC

Lubomír Tomány is responsible for the product roadmap of Digital Bank OS, with which BSC has come to dominate both the domestic and international markets, making it a key player in the field of banking sector digitisation.