Online Account Opening Reimagined: How to Start and Scale

Digital account opening can be a significant strategic move, and many banks and credit unions aren’t sure where to start. Even by starting small, the benefits can be realized and built upon over time.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to account opening, you can start by thinking about where you’re struggling today with your account opening experience. Are there opportunities for improvement?

• Are manual processes that require high staff involvement slowing the account opening process down?
• Do you need to grow deposits, but have concerns about losing the personal touch your accountholders are accustomed to in-branch?
• Are you looking to attract new tech-savvy applicants like Gen Z, but have a small staff and aren’t sure how to use the right tools to effectively reach them?
• Are you concerned that a digital account opening channel could lead to fraudulent applications and the need for more robust verification processes that could cause friction and lead to application abandonment?

Digital account opening is a journey, not a destination, and change isn’t always easy. Your technology partner should provide you with guidance to ensure that the journey is not overwhelming. Sometimes it’s necessary to start in a space you’re comfortable with, within a small segment of people or a channel to test and refine before a full rollout.

By breaking a project like this down into smaller phases, adjustments can be made much more easily. You can scale the project up or down based on the success of each phase while considering feedback or changing requirements.

A Phased Approach to Digital Account Opening: Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly

Phase 1: Crawl: A digital employee channel for in-branch origination

Let’s say that today your accountholders come into the branch to open a new account, but you’re looking to make the in-person process easier and more efficient. Starting with a more modern, digital application for employees to offer applicants – on a tablet, for example – can help reduce the resources required to manage the account opening process by eliminating scanning, data entry, and manual paperwork.

You could even take this step further and offer in-field account opening at a coffee shop, business, or college campus. This will help train staff, familiarize them with the new process, and establish confidence internally with a new system.

Phase 2: Walk: Targeted online account opening

Let’s say your goal is to grow deposits within your existing base or expand to a specific geographical area like the next county or state. You want to market to existing customers or a very targeted, pre-qualified prospect list. You can extend the account opening process into your existing digital banking platform, allowing only existing accountholders to open accounts directly from their online banking interface, but not open the floodgates to everyone.

This way, you’re in control of who’s applying and enhancing internal efficiency at the same time. You can test and refine the online account opening experience before a full launch. And provide additional training to ensure smooth operations.

Phase 3: Run: Full online account origination to the public

You’ve tested the waters and are seeing efficiency gains and growth in deposits. You’ve opened new accounts within your existing accountholder base and even added a few new ones. Why stop there? You’re ready to expand your offerings and attract more applicants through your new digital front door.

You can expand your footprint and show prospects that your institution is forward-thinking and tech-savvy by embedding your account opening platform on your website and digital platform. This integration simplifies the process and enhances convenience for applicants by allowing them to self-serve anytime, from anywhere.

Utilize digital marketing strategies to promote online deposit origination. This can include special offers, targeted ads, social media campaigns, and email marketing to reach potential accountholders. Even if you have a small staff, there are customizable online tools that can help you reach the right audience at the right time.

While many banks and credit unions begin to have concerns about applicant fraud at this stage, the key is to find the right balance between a seamless applicant experience and a successful fraud prevention program. A modern application interface with automated identity verification ensures compliance and efficiency, boosting online account openings. Leveraging multiple data sources helps acquire qualified applicants while reducing manual review time and costs, bridging both needs effectively.

Phase 4: Fly: Personalized experiences and full-scale account opening

Once you’ve successfully established your digital presence in the account opening space, the options are endless. Use technology to your advantage and create different application workflows based on how the applicant got there. For example:

• Did a new college student stumble across a page on your site that speaks to the benefits of a specific checking and savings account? Drop them into an application with those products already pre-selected.
• Do you have a relationship with a local business and want to provide their new employees with a benefit to opening a new account at your institution? You can tailor a specific QR code or link, or even a certain promotional code, just for these applicants that unlocks a certain account type. And again, these products can be pre-selected for them.
• Gain additional deposits from your top accountholders by marketing a promotional rate CD using targeted ads in their online banking experience, or via email. Again, you can have a specific application workflow for these users that displays only this promotional rate and pre-selects it for them. Anything to reduce friction for your applicants and make it easier to grow your share of their wallet.

Once your institution has really started seeing the benefits of digital account opening, you can increase your online offerings to different products. Instead of overwhelming the applicants – new or existing – with a long list of options, create specific workflows for each account type – deposit, CD, savings, and more.

Choose Your Own Adventure

 Your crawl, walk, run, fly journey will likely be different than others. The point is that you can customize and tailor your approach based on what you need. This type of incremental approach allows you to first address basic functionalities, then enhance features, and finally optimize performance – with the following key goals in mind:

• Continuous Improvement: Allows for a controlled increase in scale and complexity. Encourages ongoing enhancements and refinements.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: Provides opportunities to adjust and improve at each stage based on feedback and results.
• Sustainability: Minimizes the risk of overwhelming the team by gradually increasing demands. Supports long-term growth by building on previous successes.

Remember that starting small and scaling up can help you navigate the complexities of digital account opening. A tailored growth plan can help you enhance the user experience, improve efficiency, and ensure that you can adapt to increasing application volume without compromising quality or efficiency.

Your Customized Digital Account Opening Assessment

Still not sure where to start? Take our digital account opening online assessment to unlock personalized account opening benefits tailored to your goals.