Savvy credit union leaders understand that there have been a few key drivers of both deposits and loan growth in recent years. Better marketing campaigns that effectively target younger members are one of them, as have been more aggressive offers that people just can't help but say "no" to.
But a major contributing factor to growth across the board has been the digital account opening process. What used to take days now takes minutes from any smartphone and people can't seem to get enough of it. This is why, if offering digital account opening was not already on your credit union's strategy list of implementations, now would be an excellent time to consider moving it to the top.
Don't Wait! Get Started Implementing the Digital Account Opening Process
Why is Digital Account Opening an Integral Apart of Growth?
All it takes is one look at digital-only financial institutions in the United States to see how powerful this trend already is. In 2020, there were an estimated 23.1 million members at such organizations--meaning that they had interacted with and presumably been satisfied with services like digital account openings. A year later, that number had grown 25.3% to 28.9 million. By 2024, that number is expected to grow to 47.5 million—all on the back of innovations like digital account openings.
Essential Features of Digital Account Opening
Auto-fill information
At a bare minimum, digital account openings for credit unions should have a few core features. Chief among them is the ability to capture (or in some cases, automatically fill in) basic identity information pertaining to the member.
ID Verification
Naturally, it's in a credit union's best interest to be able to qualify potential members in terms of risk and fraud characteristics. You would also need to verify someone's identity.
Real-time processing
It is vital that you don't lose your new members at this moment. If approved, those members should be able to put money directly into their new accounts in real time so they can immediately engage with your credit union.
Seamless third-party integrations
Your digital account opening process should also integrate with your core credit union system. It's not difficult to get to this point with the right technology, and the benefits of such a strategic move are enormous.
The easier it is for someone to open a new account, the more likely they are to do so. That creates a win-win situation for both the credit union and the members alike.
Going Above and Beyond? Here are the Benefits
Increased Cross-Selling Opportunities
Such a solution, once implemented, also creates opportunities in other ways, too. It becomes an opportunity to up-sell and cross-sell additional products and services. Information obtained during the account opening process can be used to personalize the experience even further.
Easier & Accurate Information
Integration also creates an opportunity to use a single sign-on with existing online and mobile banking. Traditional identity verification becomes not only easier, but more accurate as well.
Streamline Your Account Opening with FLEX Technology
In the end, digital account opening solutions are just one part of the member onboarding process for credit unions. But regardless of what shape your own process takes, a few things need to be true. It needs to streamline onboarding by leveraging modern technology to everyone's advantage. By simplifying the onboarding process, you play to exactly what younger generations are looking for in a way that generates more members at the same time.
At FLEX, we've recently written a document outlining all of these points and more. If you're interested in finding out more information, please click the button below.
