Retail banks lose over half of European applicants during onboarding

The Battle to On-Board II report, commissioned by Signicat, looks at digital identity and its effect on retail bank onboarding in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and follows up on similar research carried out in 2016.

The initial 2016 report was focused solely on the UK and found that banks were struggling to onboard consumers thanks to over-reliance on paper processes and a lack of digital identity. 40% of customers were giving up at this last step, frustrated. The new research reveals that 52% of European respondents admitted abandoning applications. This is more disturbing in the UK where the number rises to 56%.

The 2018 report not only highlights the issue that is preventing customers from completing applications, but also reveals what consumers want to solve the problem. An overwhelming majority of Europeans, 72%, want their banks to offer a fully-digital onboarding system.

This won’t just make them more likely to complete an application, but will also help increase revenue from customers—52% of consumers would be more likely to use additional services from a bank that allowed them to onboard without the need to use paper-based identity. Indeed, the use of digital identity could help gain cross-border customers as the majority of respondents wanted an ID they could use across Europe. This is especially true in Sweden where only 22% did not want this.

The report The Battle to On-Board II is available for download. It is based on a survey of 4000 consumers across the UK, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden by Sapio Research.