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Remote customer onboarding was one of the essential services that shaped our daily life under the circumstances caused by the pandemic. However, this procedure proved to be difficult, especially in the industries relying on high-security standards. Fortunately, problems related to digital customer onboarding may soon become just a distant memory.
What is the key to remote onboarding?
The key to remote customer onboarding is indentification and verifications. Banks and other financial institutions usually demand the customers to provide detailed due diligence information before the contract is signed. What is more, in banking industry such a procedure should fit within the broader scope of a bank’s Anty-Money Laundering (AML) policy based on the latest regulations issued by local government . Thus, identification and verification of prospective customers is essential, as it ensures the security of personal data and the quality of services.
The identification of customers became one of the biggest challenges in 2020, as the process had to be transferred to the digital channels, resulting in growing popularity of remote customer onboarding. This procedure posed a number of new problems all financial institutions had to face. However, those issues could be solved with just one innovative technology called eKYC – Know Your Customer.
Know Your Customer and your digital onboarding services (eKYC)
Know Your Customer is a procedure which allows identification and verification of customer identity in digital channels. It is a base for digital customer onboarding and related services. Nowadays it is also employed by companies of all sizes and industries for the purpose of ensuring their new customers are actually who they claim to .
Moreover, eKYC is a term used to describe digitalized process for supporting Know Your Customer processes. It allows for a digital customer onboarding process to be carried out remotely and without the involvement of paper documents. Such a solution offers a variety of new opportunities for the financial institutions, including reducing the costs of onboarding operations and, simultaneously, the average service time for one customer.
Remote customer onboarding– how it works?
As soon as potential customer decides to acquire banking product via digital channels provided by the financial institution of choice, the remote onboarding process begins. It can be conducted both on desktop and mobile devices. However, nowadays most of consumers decide to use the latter, as smartphones are equipped with better cameras required for a successful complexion of remote customer onboarding process. In fact, mobile eKYC process is much more intuitive when conducted on mobile devices and we strongly recommend to include it in mobile applications.
The process itself may vary depending on the requirements given by the institutions it is prepared for. Generally, remote customer onboarding includes such steps as:
- Short introduction to the process
- Gathering contact information and necessary consents
- SMS confirmation
- Taking ID photos and selfie
- Liveness Check
- OCR, ID and biometric verification
- Database verification
- Decision based on intelligent algorithm
- Application form
- Signing agreement.
The advantages of remote onboarding processes
- eKYC-based solutions for digital customer onboarding are a money-saving alternative for processes involving traditional paperwork. They do not require constant support from bank advisors, as they generally include a variety of instructions allowing the customers to proceed with no further help. A recent study shows that there is a potential for 90% cost reduction in digital customer onboarding. (1)
- Independence and reliability. Remote customer onboarding is a feature available regardless of the availability of bank branches. Thanks to this process, the sale can be completed even when all the financial institutions are closed. This option is also a base for an introduction of a remote work, should the need for such a solution arise.
- Digital onboarding is rapidly becoming a standard in the industry, as more and more customers are willing to use the process while looking for sufficient banking products. This feature allows them to quickly gain access to the services they need most, because it is available 24/7 from any place in the world. What is more, remote customer onboarding process is also shorter than its traditional counterpart. All in all, it is a perfect and intuitive way to go from customers’ needs to the sales themselves.
The future of digital onboarding
We live in an era of rapid digitalization of every aspect of our lives. Digital transformation has been a part of every organization thinking about introducing optimized solutions for its customers and striving to reduce costs of their services.
Digital onboarding is a direct response to the needs of both banks and its customers. The feature allows them both to achieve their goals while reducing the costs and the time required to complete the processes related to a given contract. Thus, that is a solution that will shape the future of remote customer onboarding and the future of banking itself.
