Opening the door. Opening a can of soda. Opening your eyes. The word open is all about allowing access and not having a confining barrier. 

Yet not all openings are so readily accessible. We’re referring to deposit account openings (DAO) at banks and lenders — when a person or business goes to a bank to open a new checking or savings account. 

Sounds simple enough, right? Yet it presents many obstacles that lead to frustrations from potential banking customers and uncertainty on how to fix it from the banks. 

But making DAO a seamless process for customers is imperative to a bank or lender’s success. This is because it gets to the fundamentals of how a bank makes money. New customers opening accounts means more money flowing into the bank.  

Big problems for small banks and lenders

The reality is that very few people are setting foot in a bank branch location when they want to open an account. Most are turning to their computers or mobile phones, and the days of in-person banking interactions are becoming a thing of the past. More than three-quarters (78%) of Americans prefer to bank digitally either via a mobile app (41%) or their bank’s website (37%).

This reliance on digital banking has been significantly more problematic for smaller-sized banks and lenders. Smaller banks tend to be dependent on their staff to manually review deposit account applications. Behind the scenes, the back-office team oversees antiquated software to verify applicants’ information and financial history. It must be checked against public databases and third-party providers to validate that the person is actually who they say they are and that their address and identity are all in alignment. 

Financial institutions are hindering the application progression by not incorporating automation as part of the DAO process. Many smaller banks and credit unions may not completely see the opportunity in front of them. More often than not, it’s not because they don’t know about the available technology. It’s that some banks and credit unions don’t fully understand how to leverage new technologies for automation.

Deposit Account Opening challenges for businesses too

According to Cornerstone Advisors, the impact of digital account opening is clear: “Digital banks grew by 67%, with the percentage of new deposit accounts opened with digital banks growing threefold from 6% in 2017 to 18% in Q2 2020.” However, consumers and businesses are forced to use a branch at less technology-forward banks and credit unions. The expectation is clear — Digital Banking Report found that in 2021, 70% of financial institutions have the ability to complete the entire account opening process online.

That’s not to say that branches are on the outs completely. Two in three customers still find branches to be a meaningful channel to interact with their financial institutions, but they want to visit them for activities like account management or financial research, not necessarily for account openings.

These challenges with DAO are not limited to only a bank’s individual customers. Similar complications arise when it comes to small or medium-sized businesses that want to open a checking or savings account. The exception is that the bank or credit union is not only checking out the person themselves, but also the business and anyone associated with the business, such as a co-owner. 

This wider web of items to verify makes the DAO application process much more complex for businesses and banks. Ensuring a smooth verification process built on automation is perhaps even more critical for businesses versus individuals. This is because businesses tend to be prime customers for banks and lenders. After all, they tend to bring in more money. 

Salesforce technology automates operations

The good news is that there are technologies and tools available to completely automate the DAO application process for both individuals and businesses, and in most cases, above 90% of the process can be automated. Five or ten years ago, it would have cost financial institutions a small fortune to custom-build the AI solutions needed to automate a straight-through account opening process, but today there are much more affordable digital transformation solutions being rapidly adopted. 

The key is knowing the right technology to leverage, and that’s where Silverline and Salesforce come in. Silverline has Salesforce technology and Fintech partnership expertise, as well as firsthand experience in the banking and lending industry. We can help you move away from legacy systems, eliminate manual entry, and speed up verification processes for deposit account openings and other critical banking areas. 

Silverline provides more than 175 Salesforce accelerators for banking and lending to save you time and money. Silverline suggests different accelerators that range from basic to sophisticated and tailors them to the type of technology that a bank already possesses and how it is leveraging that technology. We work closely with financial institutions to identify the appropriate technologies and solutions.

Technology improves customer experiences

Many of the banks and lenders that Silverline works with rely on nCino. The nCino Bank Operating System gives banks access to one place where they can gain full visibility into customer relationships and streamline their processes. nCino integrates with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and other Salesforce products like Marketing Cloud to create a holistic view of the entire customer journey.

The nCino Deposit Account Opening feature allows customers to open accounts anywhere, anytime, and on any digital device in just minutes. With nCino, you can provide customers and businesses with a fast and intuitive digital account opening experience while also increasing your operational efficiency. nCino Deposit Account Opening benefits include:

• Customer experience: Customers can start, continue, and complete a deposit account application across any channel without having to enter the same data twice. New accounts can be funded immediately by securely linking outside bank accounts in seconds.
• Operational efficiency: Banks can leverage multiple data sources to make informed identity decisions that help to reduce manual review time and decrease maintenance costs on an ongoing basis.
• Compliance: Best in class integrations with multiple data sources to fulfill all Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB), and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements.
• Communication: With nCino’s digital customer service, customers can get help when they need it via their desired point of communication — chat, messaging, audio, or video.

Additionally, Silverline has industry leading experience and solutions to take advantage of more custom solutions through the use of Salesforce Digital Process Automation. Read A Beginner’s Guide to Salesforce Digital Process Automation for more information on how we build these solutions.  

How Silverline can help with DAO

Whether you’re a small bank or a large lender, Silverline can work with you to create deposit account opening solutions as part of your digital transformation. Our team leverages insight acquired through 10+ years in the business and thousands of engagements, along with real-world expertise gained across the financial services industry. We guide you through every phase of your Salesforce journey, from strategy and implementation to managed services. Find out how we can transform your business.