Digital onboarding transformation for european financial institutions

The onboarding experience is not just a customer’s first point of contact with a bank – it is also an opportunity to make a strong, positive first impression. This initial interaction sets the tone for future relationships with the customer and influences satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness to use a wider range of banking services. Despite this, studies show that many banks still use cumbersome onboarding processes, resulting in high customer drop-off rates.

For example, many customers abandon the onboarding process due to its length or complexity. According to a study by Arkwright Consulting, abandonment rates at various stages of the sales journey in European banking range from 67% to 80%, highlighting how much banks lose when customers fail to complete onboarding.

Another study by Fenergo revealed that 67% of financial institutions lost customers due to slow and inefficient onboarding and KYC verification. High dropout rates were attributed to several factors, including poor user experience and process delays (cited by 77% of banks), as well as complex onboarding procedures (cited by 45%).

In this article, we will cover:

• The challenge for European financial institutions – balancing compliance, user experience, and security
  
• A unified approach to digital customer onboarding
  
• Transforming digital onboarding processes
  
• How to use the solution
  

The challenge for european financial institutions – balancing compliance, user experience, and security

European financial institutions stand at a crossroads. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, they face growing challenges in balancing the need to provide a seamless customer experience with regulatory compliance, fraud threats, and shifting consumer expectations.

European banks operate under some of the world’s strictest regulations, including KYC, AML, and eIDAS. These requirements involve rigorous identity verification and transaction monitoring to combat financial crime and protect customers. Non-compliance can result in significant fines, legal issues, and serious reputational damage. Ambiguities in certain standards – such as advanced electronic signature (AdES) requirements under eIDAS – further complicate compliance efforts, forcing institutions to invest heavily in legal expertise and robust compliance systems.

Traditional onboarding processes are often fragmented, requiring customers to go through repeated and unnecessary identity verifications. These experiences deter customers, leading to frustration, process abandonment, and revenue loss. In an era that demands smooth digital interactions, financial institutions must streamline onboarding to stay competitive. Many drop-offs are caused by the need to navigate multiple systems, highlighting the need for a more integrated and user-focused approach.

Moreover, the rise of remote onboarding has created new vulnerabilities, increasing the risk of fraud at the identity verification stage. Financial institutions are increasingly exposed to identity theft, fake accounts, and unauthorized transactions. Basic electronic signatures often fail to provide sufficient security and identity assurance, leaving both institutions and customers vulnerable to financial losses, legal disputes, and other risks. As fraud methods grow more sophisticated, institutions must adopt modern solutions that offer precise identity verification and secure the entire onboarding process.

To maintain customer trust, support growth, and ensure long-term success in a digital and competitive environment, European financial institutions must address these complex challenges. They need a solution that streamlines digital onboarding, supports compliance, and enhances security – without compromising the customer experience.

A unified approach to digital customer onboarding

Our innovative tool helps institutions by:

• Ensuring regulatory compliance: We integrate identity verification directly into the onboarding and document signing workflow. This enables seamless collection and verification of customer information, including identity documents.
  
• Simplifying the customer experience and increasing conversions: By merging identity verification and electronic signature into a single, unified process, we eliminate redundant steps and streamline the customer journey. This results in faster onboarding, higher conversion rates, and improved customer satisfaction.
  
• Enhancing security during onboarding: Our solution uses advanced identity verification techniques, including real-time automated ID document verification, ensuring that only verified clients can sign legally binding agreements. This significantly reduces fraud risks, fake accounts, and unauthorized transactions.
  

Transforming digital onboarding processes

We transform customer onboarding into a single, seamless solution. We provide an efficient, secure, and user-friendly experience that enables customers to complete the entire process in one session. Our solution offers:

• Automated fraud detection: Accurate identity verification within seconds automates KYC and onboarding, protecting the institution and reducing abandonment rates.
  
• Secure agreements with verified identities: Signatures are tied to verified individuals, ensuring full trust in the signed documents.
  
• Higher assurance levels: EU-recognized, tamper-proof digital agreements with strong identity verification comply with eIDAS requirements for AdES. Only verified users can sign documents, minimizing disputes, chargebacks, and financial losses.
  
• Trusted timestamping: Our solution generates qualified timestamps for each signature.
  
• Comprehensive solution for easy onboarding: Seamless integration of identity verification with advanced and qualified signatures enables clients to identify themselves and sign documents in a single session. This provides quick access to financial services.
  

Thanks to our solution, European institutions can confidently embrace digital transformation, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and grow in a competitive environment. From account openings and loan applications to investment agreements and KYC forms, our tool optimizes operations and enhances the customer journey.

How to use the solution

Getting started with advanced and qualified signatures combined with identity verification in compliance with eIDAS is easy. The process is designed for simplicity – both for institutions and their clients. Here’s how it works:

1. The financial institution creates a workflow.
2. The customer remotely verifies their identity using an ID document.
3. The customer reviews and electronically signs documents using AdES or QES.
4. The customer successfully opens a bank account.
5. The system generates an audit trail containing identity verification details, signed documents, and confirmation of the signature with electronic seals and timestamps.
6. Both the institution and the customer receive the signed documents. The customer gains access to the relevant financial services offered by the institution, and the institution obtains identity verification data.
   

Summary

Our remote document signing solution with KYC onboarding enables European financial institutions to streamline customer onboarding, enhance security, and support compliance with eIDAS regulations. By offering a smooth and efficient digital experience, the solution helps reduce fraud, mitigate risks, and accelerate business growth in a competitive landscape.

If your institution is considering implementing a digital onboarding solution with advanced or qualified signatures, it is essential to familiarize yourself with eIDAS regulations. Our solution is designed to support the standards set out in eIDAS, ensuring a secure and compliant way to verify identities and quickly sign agreements.