Online Account Creation Remains Insufficient - Reinventing Banking Strategies for Enhanced User Experience
In a bid to drive real, sustainable growth, banks are rethinking their online account opening strategies. Traditionally, the banking industry has focused on perfecting online account opening for checking accounts, but recent findings suggest that this approach may not be the most profitable.
According to industry data, 35% of checking accounts generate less than $350 per year in revenue, while many online-opened checking accounts sit nearly empty. Moreover, fraudsters are more interested in these low-value accounts, leading to increased fraud and higher costs for banks.
To combat this trend, banks are now focusing on attracting customers with high-yield savings accounts. These accounts are more likely to bring in more money and deepen banking relationships over time. High-yield savings account holders are financially stable, engaged, and savvy consumers who aim for long-term wealth building.
To attract these valuable customers, banks are streamlining and digitizing the onboarding process. The onboarding process is designed to be intuitive, fast, and mobile-first, enabling users to open accounts in under five minutes. Banks are incorporating instant identity verification methods, eSignature, and immediate funding tools within the onboarding flow to ensure a seamless online experience.
Moreover, banks are enhancing the user experience and personalizing the onboarding process based on customer data and profiles. This personalization helps users focus on relevant features and goals quickly and increases engagement. Banks are also implementing financial goal setting and challenges to help customers engage actively with their savings accounts and build habits for long-term usage.
To reduce fraud, banks are employing multi-layered identity verification techniques and progressive data capture. This approach ensures quick and secure identity confirmation without requiring branch visits or excessive documentation.
Banks are also leveraging embedded cross-selling and engagement tools to activate new accounts and immediately start growing customer wallet share. By integrating cross-sell opportunities within the onboarding process, banks can encourage longer-term engagement.
Finally, banks are optimizing their landing pages and marketing to attract high-yield savers. They are creating landing pages with clear, focused calls to action that guide visitors directly to open high-yield savings accounts. Banks are using persuasive, transparent messaging about rates and benefits to attract customers interested in maximizing savings returns.
By combining these strategies—speedy, secure onboarding; personalized, engaging user experience; fraud reduction; embedded growth tools; and optimized marketing—banks can improve conversion rates, attract and retain high-yield savings account customers, and build long-term customer loyalty.
Kathleen Craig, the Founder & CEO at Plinqit, emphasizes the importance of these changes. She states, "Higher savings balances lead to stronger banking relationships." Craig also suggests that a digital account scorecard should evaluate online-opened accounts based on average balance, account age, cross-sell success, and engagement metrics.
In conclusion, by focusing on high-yield savings accounts, banks can optimize their online account opening strategies, reduce fraud, and increase long-term customer engagement. This shift in focus is crucial for banks seeking to drive growth and deepen relationships with their customers.
- As banks strive to foster long-term, profitable relationships, they are prioritizing the attraction of high-yield savings account holders, who are financially stable, engaged, and aim for wealth building.
- To lure these valuable customers, banks are streamlining and digitalizing the account opening process, making it intuitive, fast, and mobile-first, and incorporating instant identity verification methods, e-Signatures, and immediate funding tools.
- On the front of combating fraud, banks are adopting multi-layered identity verification techniques and progressive data capture, ensuring quick and secure identity confirmation while reducing the need for branch visits or excessive documentation.
