A Growing Demand for Online Account Opening April 27, 2017January 31, 2019 Q2 A Growing Demand for Online Account Opening Wells Fargo scandal sparks change in how people want to bank. The fierce public outrage from the Wells Fargo new account scandal caused significant damage to their reputation and implications for the banking industry as a whole. Wells Fargo was fined for illegal practices that stemmed from their corporate culture of high sales quotas, which motivated frontline employees to cheat in order to boost numbers by opening accounts without customer authorization. Wells Fargo was cited specifically for violating consumer protections included in the Dodd-Frank Act that prohibit financial institutions from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practice, known as UDAAP. Banks are under a microscope With this colossal breach of trust, Wells Fargo became the perfect poster child for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to showcase what they do and why it matters. Putting the rest of the industry on notice, the CFPB has pledged to step up their examinations of bank sales practices and to pursue other financial institutions that are taking advantage of consumers. With the regulatory spotlight on UDAAP, all banks must look at their sales practices and make adjustments as needed. Changing a sales culture that is deeply ingrained in retail banking is no small undertaking and will take considerable time and staff retraining. To make matters worse, this all comes at a time when the banks, still reeling from the regulatory reforms that followed the 2008 financial crisis, are under intense pressure to grow revenue. Digital account opening is no longer optional With handcuffs on the frontline staff, the value proposition for online customer acquisition just got more attractive. For some time, online account opening has been an important tool to reach digital-only consumers and allow financial institutions with a limited branch footprint to compete effectively. Since the Wells Fargo scandal, it is expected that more and more consumers will prefer to interact with their bank through an online channel, where they feel more in control and not at risk of being worn down by aggressive sales tactics, or worse yet, duped by the banker. The regulators are fired up and will be looking at sales practices for UDAAP violations across all channels. A key advantage for the online sales channel is that the rogue human element is not a part of the equation. UDAAP compliance for online account opening can be thoughtfully implemented with technology and audited centrally. While the tough times for banks just got tougher, this turmoil may translate into opportunities for financial institutions ready to connect with consumers looking for a change. Chances are that fed-up consumers will be looking online instead of walking through the doors of the branch.
3 Unnecessary Habits That Keep You From Acquiring More Customers. April 24, 2017January 31, 2019 Q2 3 Unnecessary Habits That Keep You From Acquiring More Customers. Stop doing these today and watch your digital onboarding skyrocket. They say old habits die hard. And in the case of bankers, this seems to be exceptionally true. With the rapid rise in the use of mobile devices for banking tasks such as account opening, bill pay and deposits; it’s time to leave these antiquated practices behind that undermine your customer acquisition efforts. Banks need to do everything in their power to make the application process as simple as possible. Reducing keystrokes, limiting decisions, removing unnecessary questions – all help improve the experience and increase your chance for a completed application. Here are three things that should NOT be a part of your digital customer acquisition process: Physical Signature cards. I remember going to the bank with my mom in the 1970’s to deposit a check and watching the bankers check her signature against a card they pulled out of a huge file drawer, much like the one we used at the library back then. Signature cards have been in use for many decades, and are just a known part of the banking process that is still in practice today. They made sense 30 years ago when everything was done manually. But today, banks can use sophisticated risk-based tools that can compare a potentially forged signature with a signature from a recently paid low-dollar transaction. The love affair with the signature card is not just about the signature; banks use them to record the customer’s agreement to the account terms and conditions. Even our lawmakers understood that “wet signature required” was an outdated concept and passed the E-Sign Act over 17 years ago to pave the way for digital commerce. It’s time to break this habit of yesteryear and 86 the signature cards. Eliminate friction caused by requiring your mobile-first customer to sign and mail a signature card. It’s more convenient for your customers and saves time for your employees. And you aren’t breaking any compliance laws. Point of contact in case of death. I’m not suggesting that you don’t collect this information at all. I agree that it’s good practice to have another name on file to cover the “God forbid” category. But is this information needed up front or relevant to deciding whether they get approved for a new account or loan? Forcing a potential loan applicant to make this type of decision up front can bring the entire application process to a halt. This can open a Pandora’s box of complicated family relationship decisions that are best avoided on the front end of an application. Collecting this type of secondary information after the account has been opened and funded removes a huge barrier for new applicants and allows banks to realize deposits and revenue more quickly. On-Screen Disclosures. Please don’t send your lawyers and compliance officers after me. Disclosures are no doubt an important requirement. In fact the law is very clear; new account disclosures must be provided in a form the customer can retain before an account is opened. The law, however, does not require cramming the fine print on a screen. That is a bad user experience and even impractical given the wide variety of digital devices used today, many of which have limited screen real estate. But again, it’s about what is needed up front. Assaulting prospective customers with fine print before they can hit submit on their application can seriously delay or derail the whole process. You can comply with disclosure and E-Sign regulations by emailing disclosures during the application process. On screen display of disclosures is old school. Emailing important disclosures immediately after the critical information has been gathered allows customer to retain and review the documents at their convenience. The Q2 Gro Digital Sales Platform solution has streamlined the account opening process to collect the bare minimum information required to process and approve a new deposit account or loan applicant. Our workflow has been proven to reduce the process from 30 minutes to under 4 minutes, and has our bank customers have seen a significant reduction in mobile abandonment from 80% – 35%.
Foil Phony Accounts with Anti-fraud Features. April 24, 2017January 31, 2019 Q2 Foil Phony Accounts with Anti-fraud Features. This account opening solution can actually help keep you in good standing with federal regulators. The Wells Fargo scandal was an eye opener for all of us. The pressure for bank representatives to open new accounts is so great that it became common practice to open phony accounts in customer’s name and charge maintenance and overage fees. This is wrong on so many levels, I’m not sure where to start. 1. Really bad customer service. 2. Opens your institution up to federal scrutiny and lawsuits. 3. Puts all FIs at risk of further federal regulation and compliance. As a responsible banker, there are simple steps you can take today to make sure this does not happen to you. As part of our Digital Sales Platform, Q2 Gro offers Consumer Protection Plus, a patent-pending feature that uses SMS text and email validation to ensure that consumers are involved in the account opening process. It provides an extra layer of security for your customers, and documentary evidence during regulatory examinations for you. What does Consumer Protection Plus do? – Proves customer involvement in the account application – Provides a superior user experience and a familiar verification process – Ensures a working communication channel to the client for future cross selling, collections, digital banking, etc. – Delivers disclosures electronically How does Consumer Protection Plus work? During the account opening application process, the applicant is prompted to enter an email or a mobile phone number where they can receive a verification code. The code is sent instantly and the applicant enters it back into the application. The transaction of the verification is recorded and proof can be viewed and reported from the Q2 Gro Admin Portal. This verifies that the applicant is actively involved in the process, protecting them from unwanted account fees, and protecting the FI from fraudulent employee practices.