Every banking customer must undergo onboarding when beginning a relationship with a new financial institution (FI), and these onboarding processes set the tone for the remainder of customers’ banking relationships in many ways.
Businesses are increasingly interested in easing the onboarding process, with many consumers looking to digital banking channels to meet their financial needs due to the significant logistical challenges wrought by the pandemic. The average bank contacts its customers an average of 10 times during the onboarding process via phone calls, emails and even in-person meetings. All told, onboarding can take as many as 16 weeks to complete, and many interaction points are vulnerable to frictions, frustrations and errors.
In the March edition of the Next-Gen Commercial Banking Tracker®, PYMNTS examines both the challenges that FIs face in offering smooth digital onboarding for corporate customers and the frictions that continue to prevent businesses from realizing swift and seamless experiences.
Around the Commercial Banking Space
More than two-thirds of businesses cited an FI’s real-time payments capability as the most significant factor in the choice of where to bank, according to a new survey. Of the 260 corporate decision-makers surveyed, 85% said real-time payments capability topped their list of requirements when selecting a banking partner.
The ongoing digital transformation has made small businesses increasingly reliant on their payment processors, and new research suggests that commercial banks are stepping up to meet these needs. A recent study found a surge last year in businesses’ satisfaction with their merchant services payment processors, led by larger banks.
For more on these stories, visit the Tracker’s News and Trends section.
PNC Bank on Client Onboarding Challenges in a Remote Business Environment
The accelerated digital shift of the past two years has brought convenience to the world of banking, but it has also increased fraud risk. Nowhere is this more evident than in serving the complex needs of large companies, and banks that work with these clients must begin with an onboarding experience that ensures a secure journey.
In this month’s Feature Story, Lane Levengood, director of strategy and planning for commercial banking for PNC Bank, talks about the challenges and importance of providing a satisfying and safe onboarding experience for new clients.
PYMNTS Intelligence: Why the Onboarding Process Is Key to Customer Retention in Corporate Banking
As banks compete to meet the ever-growing demands of a more digitally-savvy customer base, one area for improvement stands out: the onboarding experience. Companies such as Amazon, Apple and Google have set the standard for perceptions of what a seamless onboarding process should be, but FIs have traditionally made it difficult for customers to open accounts.
This month’s PYMNTS Intelligence takes a close look at how businesses’ banking expectations are shifting as they migrate more of their financial operations online. It also examines why retaining corporate clients in this changing landscape means enabling speedy, simple and comprehensive digital onboarding.
About the Tracker
The Next-Gen Commercial Banking Tracker®, a PYMNTS and FISPAN collaboration, examines the challenges that FIs face in offering smooth digital onboarding for corporate customers and how to address frictions that prevent businesses from realizing swift and seamless experiences.
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