Q2 receives hundreds of requests for proposals (RFPs) per year, and we see important areas overlooked by financial institutions (FIs) entering a digital banking evaluation that they should consider. Five areas stand and are discussed in this blog series.
This second in the series concentrates on onboarding, and what to ask vendors about their solution.
Onboarding is a lot more than a mere ramp up
Onboarding is a lot more than just a way to get a prospective account holder up and running in your digital channel. It sets the tone for a positive customer experience and can even be looked at as a relationship-building tool.
Customers have expectations for great experiences, and every favorable one counts when building loyalty. An RFP needs to determine a vendor’s ability to onboard a customer or member easily, quickly, and securely. Successfully onboard a consumer or business in just a few minutes and they will be much more willing to remain with your FI.
Granted, competition exists, especially from fintechs with well-oiled onboarding processes, but there is opportunity as well. Even in 2022, the onboarding abandonment rate remains high—in some reporting, as high as 30 to 50 percent.
Your FI, working with the right vendor, could be in position to gain market share from other competitors.
Eliminate any negative impact
Digital banking expert and The Financial Brand co-publisher Jim Marous says, “Customers want financial services that are easy, transparent, intuitive, and empathic to their personalized needs … across the entire customer journey. Missing this opportunity will negatively impact customer interactions.” This journey begins with seamless enrollment and an always dependable automated process that can execute each and every time a prospect wants to set up an account or enroll in a service.
While it’s a given that younger account holders expect the experience Marous describes, a growing number of Baby Boomers and seniors do as well. It could be said the pandemic was the equalizing force for many demographic types.
Equally important to recognize is that small businesses prefer the same experience. Aite-Novarica has found 75% of them consider frictionless onboarding important.
Provide assurance, build confidence, encourage digital behavior
The overall process should be actionable with auto-population and software working behind the scenes to ensure security; the process should encourage digital behavior. Q2’s VP of Product Management for our Gro onboarding solution has pointed out that technology must deliver not only the assurance of frictionless, secure onboarding, but deliver confidence to those onboarding and opening accounts.
In an article written for The Financial Brand, Lee Willis put forth, “Having this confidence can open the way to deeper relationships that are more than transactional and allow the ability to drive the digital behaviors that lead to long-term profitability and engagement.”
Here are five questions to add to your RFP:
1. Does your digital banking platform provide account onboarding (AO) for consumers and businesses?
2. Can you offer insight into our users’ abandonment rates?
3. Does your platform support easy account switching and direct deposit at the time of account opening?
4. Do you support flexible pre-integrated KYC/KYB decisioning as part of the onboarding process? And can applications be auto-populated with the applicant’s information?
5. Can you provide a security overview of your onboarding process?
6. Does the AO solution support the front line in opening an account for a prospect?
Besides the five questions listed in this blog, there are others that should be asked about onboarding. These questions are provided in our Your Digital Banking RFP Evaluation Guide and Checklist.
Personalization is the next area of discussion in this blog series.
