Today, speed and convenience wins, thanks to the increasing sophistication of mobile apps that provide instant service. As everyday consumers themselves, banking customers also expect the speed, convenience and simplicity provided by technology.
Technology-first companies like Amazon and Netflix have been delivering on these benefits for the last two decades, so why should banking services be any different? Banks largely have been able to maintain their position because the regulated environment they’re in is tough for outsiders to crack. But emerging fintech companies that have gained traction in the past few years are quickly tightening the gap. Traditional banks risk losing their market dominance if their most basic services don’t evolve with the landscape. One technology that will improve banking services is eSignatures.
The financial services sector involves some of the heaviest paperwork of any industry. Bank statements, applications, disclosures, and notices are just a small sample of the many documents that circulate between banks and clients for account openings or loan approvals. Many of these services require signatures to complete the transaction. These service applications can start online, but if physical signatures are required to complete the process, time to service is slowed down significantly. This is especially unappealing for Millennial and digital-native Gen Z customers, who expect immediate service. Soon to be the customers with the most buying power, banks simply can’t overlook this cohort.
With more choices available today to consumers, financial companies must provide services with as little friction as possible. To keep pace with evolving customer preferences, financial companies need to provide banking services in quick, uninterrupted sessions. Banks still incorporating paper in their procedures are at high risk of service abandonment as frustrated customers will flock to competitors who can serve their needs more conveniently.
Adopting eSignatures is one of the most effective ways to close up gaps and replace slow paper processes. Secure and legally binding, digital signatures transcend time and location constraints. Removing paper out of the equation effectively eliminates any need for customers to print, ship or make a bank visit, thereby reducing time to sign the dotted line. This ensures that customers can do banking completely on their terms. By removing all friction points for the customer, eSignatures help banks complete that final mile of the process and realise faster time to revenue.
But directly improving the customer experience is just one way that eSignatures help. With so many lengthy processes to follow, banks’ internal operations also benefit from eSignatures. Because eSignatures automate workflows, the pace and accuracy of approving account and loan applications between departments is greatly accelerated. Without paper circulating, errors are minimized, which saves banks time to review and allows them to operate at optimal efficiency. When this happens, delays are minimised. As employees spend less time moving documents around, they can dedicate more time to providing better service to clients. Customers will notice the difference in the speed and quality of your services thanks to a more agile operation unlocked by eSignatures.
Finally, banks must comply with regulatory requirements, which could be a lengthy process leading to delays deemed unacceptable to today’s customers. For instance, under Reg.E, customers’ identities and consent to authorise must be verifiable. eSignatures verify signers quickly by leveraging detailed audit trails that capture key information associated with the signing process – timestamps, IP addresses, authentication methods – from beginning to end. These details give banks and auditors the evidence needed to authenticate the signer. eSignatures also allow extra security measures like passcodes, MFA, and KBA that can be leveraged for further client verification. These extra security measures are crucial to ensuring client identity for both banks, thereby minimising the hidden hurdles that keep clients waiting.
Solutions like eSignatures propel banks towards realising digital transformation, a key goal to gaining a competitive edge. Overhauling legacy processes and adopting a digital-first strategy is a fundamental step towards winning the business of ever-demanding customers. Thus, banks must remove friction points in their business processes, whether customer-facing or from within. Foxit eSign, a legally binding eSignature platform complete with audit trails and verification methods, helps financial institutions achieve this.
Foxit eSign’s workflow automation replaces cumbersome paper flows to expedite internal approval processes. With Foxit eSign, banks can request for customer signatures instantly and finalise transactions within minutes. Foxit eSign puts financial institutions back in a winning position by enabling services to be delivered in both speed and quality.
Foxit will be a guest panellist in the upcoming webinar: “What Will Digital Banking Look Like in 2022?”
Click here for more information about Foxit eSign.
