Gaining and retaining customers and members is a priority for all financial institutions (FIs). One of the important ways to do this is to ensure your digital account opening process is flawless.
Unsurprisingly, a Harris Poll found that 51% of surveyed respondents named convenience, defined as being able to do anything digitally that can be done in the branch, as “the most important quality in a digital banking experience.” As such, FIs need to make it just as easy for digital visitors to find information, research options, and open new accounts as branch visitors. Yet, this is often easier said than done—the application abandonment rate is 60% after just 5 minutes.
Making this issue more urgent is the fact that some generations will not just abandon an application if the process is too cumbersome, but they will also switch FIs. BAI research has found that the percentage of Gen Zers likely to switch their primary financial institution if offered a better digital banking experience elsewhere grew to 73% from 60% last year. Millennials showed similar numbers and switching Gen Xers increased to 60% from 42%. With this in mind, making digital account openings seamless is critical, and having the right interaction tools is the key.
Use Real-Time Context and Guidance
When your customer service representatives can see what digital users are viewing and how long they stay on certain pages, they can proactively offer help, before abandonment. Offering just-in-time assistance in a consumer’s preferred channels, like live chat and video, enables you to engage and guide them through their online journey more easily. Live Observation and CoBrowsing provide reps with valuable context so that the online visitor doesn’t need to explain what they are doing, shortening overall engagement time and increasing the likelihood of application completion.
Leverage Business Rules and Digital Routing
Along with real-time live assistance, setting up automated business rules and digital routing can help direct visitors to the right location on your digital property or a specific representative from the start so the account opening can be as smooth as possible. With concise business rules to identify signs of struggle coupled with effective digital routing, FIs can proactively engage with the applicant and better steer them on their digital path to avoid abandonment. Once these are set up to work automatically, only periodic reviews are needed to ascertain their continued effectiveness. This makes opportunities for online conversions more consistent.
Maximize Seamless Communication
At the end of the day, digital users want effortless interactions, including seamless transitions from one communication channel to another. While today many banking customers still call in for assistance, as digital adoption continues, that number will decrease. Having a Digital Customer Service solution that is flexible enough to shift from one channel to another allows FIs to support their digital account openers on whichever channel they use. When applicants can start with live chat and seamlessly upgrade to audio or video as their intent increases, FIs reduce dropoff and drive conversion. Having a platform that can accommodate one seamless, ChannelLess® engagement makes account opening, along with any other digital banking activities, effortless and more likely to cross the finish line.
As the race continues for market growth, digital account opening is an essential process to optimize. Don’t get left behind when the right digital tools are available to keep you at the front of the pack.
For more information on how to use Glia’s Digital Customer Service solution for a greater number of digital account openings and total conversions, watch this video.
