TSB has shaved 20 minutes off its onboarding journey to allow accounts to be opened in just 10 minutes. Further, mobile functionality has been updated so only eight scrolls are needed to sign up on a mobile device, compared to 60 scrolls on the website.
Speaking exclusively to Finextra, Kavin Mistry, head of digital sales and growth at TSB, reveals that the high street lender has also reduced the number of questions required to open an account from 49 to 22. According to Mistry, this strikes the right balance between customer institution and what would be perceived as friction.
Highlighting that this onboarding journey is “the fastest and most secure that TSB has had to date,” he adds that this transformation was made for “customers who want to make the transition to digital but want to know they are safe and secure whilst they are doing it.”
Further, the Covid-19 pandemic shifted what retail customers expect from banks, specifically around mobile functionality. “That’s the nucleus of why we’re trying to adopt a mobile first strategy. As part of that, having the ability to become a TSB customer through mobile was at the core of what we wanted to do and the main driver for our timing of this announcement - essentially catering for a surge in digital applications.”
TSB’s partnership with Onfido also allows the mobile app to compare physical customer identification with biometric videos of the new account holder with “a good balance of artificial intelligence and human experience to make that verification process as accurate, quick, and fast as possible,” Mistry says.
In addition to this, real-time OTP checks ensure that the customer has access to their email account and that it is indeed attached to the user. Once onboarded, customers will have instant access to the TSB mobile banking app and their account details.
Notably, TSB has worked with the Royal National Institute for the Blind to ensure accessibility features were at the heart of the design. As such, the new digital journey meets AA standards.
“At TSB, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of what we and we take it very seriously. We understand that customers have complex needs and different accessibility needs and so, we have partnered with the RNIB, who have supported us in the development of this,” Mistry concludes.
The UK bank has also conducted research with a diverse set of customers across those that are partially sighted, have Asperger’s or other specific needs, and have catered the new onboarding journey accordingly so that it is compatible with screen readers, audio capability, and colour contrast.