Digital account opening & loan application experiences – gaps & quick wins

With the recent surge in the fintech market since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, digital banking is more important than ever. According to an article by The Financial Brand in October 2022, “more than ever, consumers expect to finish the entire process [of opening an account] on their smartphone, in a matter of minutes.”

When we assume that this is the standard customers are looking for, online applications for loans or deposit accounts regularly deliver less-than-satisfying experiences. If you need to narrow down the exact issues for your organization to address before taking steps to resolve them, we’ve made a list of common gaps that might help. These are based on conversations with nearly 130 U.S. credit union leaders about their digital account opening processes.

1. Members can’t save and return to partially completed applications: This can be a frustrating experience for members, but is easily addressed via multichannel integration. The ideal experience is one where members can easily jump back into an application at any point, and even receive timely reminders if they forget to do so.
2. Your current online applications contain unnecessary form fields which you can’t delete: Generally, forms which are as short as possible will always convert better – meaning that it’s important to cut out all the fluff that you possibly can. Additionally, you might want to tailor forms to make them specifically applicable to a certain type of customer rather than assuming all your members will be interested in the same things.
3. You can’t identify where in the process – or why – members abandon an online application: In order to optimize your conversion rate and consistently improve product offerings, it’s important to know exactly where applicants are falling out of the funnel. The more you know, the easier it is to improve process steps and enhance the overall member experience.

These are just a few of the gaps we’ve seen in our research, but there are quite a few more. For more information and deeper discussions around what you’ve seen at your organization, download our whitepaper at cotribute.com/download-whitepaper.

Do you consistently hear one or more of those complaints at your credit union?

Here are a few next steps to consider.

• Set up A/B tests to assess how the technology performs in your credit union: For example, you could test online applications with a background fraud check and without one. A/B tests will give you solid performance data on which you can base decisions.
• Hold short interviews with members who have just completed an application: There’s nothing better than hearing firsthand from people who have a super-fresh experience with a technology process you want to improve. Their comments, ideas, and suggestions will give you solid clues to help you identify gaps and prioritize which ones to address first.
• Take advantage of Cotribute’s 90-day no-risk pilot: This is a risk-free way for you to see exactly how our application platform works for loans and deposit account openings at your credit union.

Cotribute is the technology force multiplier for financial institutions. Our mission is to help credit unions and community banks deliver incredible digital experiences to delight their customers wherever, whenever, and however they want to be served.