What do digital bank customers expect from their onboarding experiences?

With the onset of the digital revolution, our lives have transformed to the next level, which was never conceived a couple of years ago. Today, comfort, speed, efficiency, and knowledge have become the hallmarks of smart living.

Banks have also dived into the phenomenon of digital transformation. The BFSI sector has started migrating most of its operations to a digital platform. In addition, financial institutions have revolutionized their onboarding process with omnichannel customer support through digital channels to enhance the ease of banking for the customer. Furthermore, banks are ensuring seamless communication with customers across all the touchpoints.

Whether it is related to opening a new bank account or mobile app adoption, it is to be remembered that a satisfied customer is a customer retained. Conversely, an unsatisfied customer is a customer lost. Therefore, crafting a digital customer onboarding experience is pivotal.

Read More: Outsourcing in banking: Analysing the risks and benefits

Checklist for digital onboarding for banks

The goal for banks is to deliver seamless onboarding experiences to customers by leveraging digital capabilities. When customers feel they are well attended at the start of their journey, they will be more inclined with its services. Therefore, the challenge for banks is not to digitize their customers but to provide holistic digital services from the very beginning.

Let us talk about some of the strategies that banks can add to its account to deliver a digitized experience at the acquisition & onboarding stage.

Leveraging Self-service tools

Customers want instant resolution of their simple issues without ever interacting with the customer care executive or visiting the bank. Banks make it possible by deploying self-service tools like chatbots, where customers interact independently and can get their issues resolved quickly, thus saving their time and energy. Chatbots are equipped with a set of FAQs and are menu-driven, which helps customers clear their doubts about their onboarding process.

Availability across all touchpoints

For banks, customer onboarding can be enhanced significantly by delivering an omnichannel experience through digital touchpoints. It helps in reducing customer effort to explain their same concern at every touchpoint and increases their engagement with the institution. Besides, it allows banks to communicate with their customers seamlessly and provide customized solutions at the right time that resonates with the aspirations of the customer.

Personalized phygital interactions

Customers desire personalized services as soon as they start engaging with the bank. With today’s technophile customers, banks need to take a notch higher with their onboarding experience. For instance, customers prefer a personal approach in the banking sector, expecting personal suggestions on their investments without visiting the branch physically. It is time for banks to capitalize on this opportunity and reach potential clients through phygital banking services. Furthermore, banks should endorse digital interaction with their potential clients and attract them to open digital accounts with ease. Customers should feel that banks are not miles away from them but at their mobile phones.

App-onboarding

The pandemic has opened up new horizons for the banking sector to implement its digital imaginations into reality. As a result, mobile banking service is the paramount criterion for customers today to be associated with any bank. They expect app services from the very start of their customer lifecycle. It is pushing banks to onboard through mobile app services just after the acquisition. Customers also fascinate their banking services at their fingertips; indeed, a revolution in the BFSI industry.

Providing digital security to clients

Customers expect their bank accounts to be secure. Financial transactions are the foundation of every client-bank interaction. While going digital, there are chances of data leaks, which can jeopardize the bank’s reputation. Therefore, brands must build trust with customers at the beginning of their journey by protecting customers’ credentials, personal information, asset declaration, etc. Data security should be the highest priority since customers’ hard-earned money is invested with the bank and banks have sole responsibility to safeguard the customers’ interest.

Takeaways

Customer experience is the primary differentiator for banks today. Customers want more value for money and ease of interactions where their concerns are addressed adequately and timely.

Digitalization of customer onboarding has become indispensable considering the explosive demand among the new-age tech-savvy population. Banks that meet and exceed digitized customer onboarding expectations will survive in the long run.