Opening an account is the first, and arguably most critical, customer touchpoint in digital banking. Your digital account opening (DAO) process must go smoothly, or your institution risks losing a customer or member.

Today, your traditional institution is likely experiencing a shift in user behavior as consumers pivot from opening accounts in your branch to opening accounts through digital channels. And as your institution transitions to this updated model, it is critical to learn strategies for making your digital onboarding process more effective.

A common viewpoint in the industry is that reducing friction — in this case, streamlining the data required to know your customer — is the way to boost DAO completion rates. However, based on Celent’s report, Digital Account Opening: You Can Only Improve What You Measure, reducing friction is important, but measuring each stage of the DAO process throughout the whole user journey is even more critical. You must ensure that each stage of the process provides value to the customer.

DAO effectiveness varies widely across institutions primarily because many institutions aren’t tracking the right metrics. It recommends examining effectiveness across the following areas to enhance the user journey:

  • Process: Ensure that you measure the entire account opening process from completing the application to funding the account.
  • Sales: Take the time to examine how many accounts are acquired by the digital channel, as well as how many products were sold.
  • Customer Value: Go beyond the account opening process to measure customer attrition, fraud loss, and 90-day account balance.

By focusing on a holistic process rather than just one or two metrics, institutions can better track operational results and implement necessary adjustments.

Download Celent’s report to learn more about measuring the effectiveness of your DAO process.