By: Francisca Stewart, Digital Content Editor, Appway
Throughout our over fifteen years building innovative technology for various companies, we’ve seen just how relevant digital onboarding has become in financial services and other industries. Whether it’s a car or bike rental company signing up a new customer, a utilities firm or wealth manager onboarding a client, or even a business onboarding an employee or a software vendor onboarding a partner to its marketplace, it’s clear that onboarding is becoming an ever-more important focus within different sectors.
Some companies only need simple onboarding capabilities. Others, meanwhile, have more complicated needs and request more information or involve multiple departments or channels during the onboarding process. Either way one thing is certain:
According to ESI ThoughtLab’s
These are the trends that the financial services industry, and in fact other industries, should focus on in 2018 when it comes to digital onboarding:
• Connect the Disconnected – It’s easy to innovate and forget about how each thing connects to each other. For the best long-term outcome, businesses have to keep in mind that the more connected everything is, the better. Streamline and orchestrate people, systems, and data—both end-to-end and across boundaries.
• Enable Multiple Product and Multiple Party Onboarding Procedures – Make onboarding experiences as convenient as possible, even in more complex scenarios. Onboard a whole family in one single procedure. Include different products and services that might not share the same processes (such as checking the eligibility of a more complicated service in detail for an individual person).
• Compliance by Design – Make your intentions clear by
• Transparency and Control – GDPR gives Europe-based customers the ability to control how their data is used and who has access to it. This means companies will have to be more transparent about personal data and how they utilize it. For example, balancing AI’s potential value with its potential risks will be an important priority.
• Foster Digital Empathy – Use smart analytics and AI to find out what truly matters to your clients. This way you give them offers they care about on the channels of their choice.
• Engage the Virtual Workforce – Chatbots, virtual assistants, robotic process automation, robots talking to each other—
• Automate and Collaborate – Empower employees to become more customer-focused by freeing them up from completing administrative tasks and by encouraging teams to share expertise across departments. Companies should always be nimble and prepare their employees to handle evolving situations.
• Faster-Than-Ever Technology Deployment – We’re in the Digital Era, and that means firms have to get up and running quickly. Shift the focus from delivering individual user experience elements to entire experiences.
• Focus on CX – We live in a world where we’re all busier than ever. That’s why it’s essential to eliminate friction across all digital and physical channels throughout the entire customer journey and enable hybrid experiences. Clients will be happy not to deal with time-consuming, non-essential paperwork and instead have the chance to focus on more valuable and relevant information.
• Envision the Full Customer Lifecycle – While first interactions are a significant driver of client loyalty, customers also expect cohesive experiences across products and services, lines of business, locations, and over time. Approach the customer lifecycle with a 360-degree view and beyond.
