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At Sandstone Technology, James works closely with the digital banking, sales and marketing teams to create next generation digital banking solutions existing customers and prospects. We're catching up with James on the topic of digital customer onboarding and the importance this stage plays in the customer journey.
Digital customer onboarding means to onboard a customer through digital channel enabling them to open an account without any human interaction. It is to provide new customers with access to financial products and services, using a variety of tools and techniques available in today's technology landscape. Offering a digital channel removes barriers and opens a level of opportunity, not previously available.
The onboarding journey is likely to be one of the first interactions the customer has with the financial institution and almost instantly sets the expectations of the service and support offered by the bank or building society. Any unnecessary friction in the process is likely to result in a poor experience and high abandonment rates. With such high competition in the market, the customer is likely to have already opened an account with another provider after they have hit an issue with said financial institutions before the business has time to react.
1. Request only what you absolutely must from the customer to onboard them
2. Clearly communicate the current position and any next steps throughout the process
3. Proactively support the customer, removing any challenging steps or potential blockages along the way
4. Offer the customer options in the onboarding journey, no customer is the same
The desired outcome for a customer isn't to have a savings account or take out a loan, it’s to achieve an objective, such as saving to buy a holiday or being financially secure to support their family. Using conversational banking organisations to truly understand what their customers are looking to achieve and provide personalised, highly relevant experiences.
The L'Etape Du Tour is a one-day race from Megeve to Morzine, following the Tour De France stage route and has to be the most exciting yet trying route I have completed.
James is a Digital Banking product manager at Sandstone Technology, based in the UK. He has spent the last 11+ years working with some of the largest UK banks and building societies. James started his career at TSYS, a payment provider, before moving to Sandstone to focus on product development. As well as cycling, James enjoys trying out new recipes in the kitchen and spending time with his wife and two young children.
