Digital Identity Verification: Easier financial services account opening

Digital ID Verification can simplify the remote account opening process, but why does identity verification cause a problem for some financial services organisations? When customers open a bank account, or similar, thorough ID verification is required. While other business processes are digitised, ID verification can often be a slow, manual process. Manual ID verification can be open to human error, but it's still commonplace across many financial organisations. The stakes are high as manual processes can lead to bad customer experiences, fraud, or a failure to maintain regulatory compliance. This article looks at how some of these problems can be solved for financial services customers who need to provide secure identity verification.

Modernisation of internal ID verification Processes

The ability to accurately verify ID promptly is essential for financial services organisations to function - it allows them to deliver products and services like opening a bank or building society account, lending money, changing account information, providing insurance or processing a mortgage application. ID verification is also essential to comply with Anti-Money Laundering financial regulations, including KYC (Know Your Customer). To comply with KYC, businesses must ask new customers for specific information to assess whether they are likely to be engaged in illegal financial activities, including money laundering. The cost of non-compliance is high. In Europe alone, 83 fines have been imposed, totalling $1.7 billion. The majority have been imposed by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

As banks are keen to deliver better customer experiences, there is an increased need to provide seamless digital experiences. For example, many banks are aiming to digitise their account opening process. As services are modernised, it is only seamless if the entire process, including ID verification, is digitised. Despite the need to digitise, a 2019 Global Digital Lending Review report found only 34% of banks and credit unions have mobile apps able to handle online loan applications. Of those organisations that can process online/website and mobile applications, only 52% can complete an online application from end-to-end.

However, there are solutions that help financial services organisations modernise, and organisations can now use digital technology to automate ID verification. Digital identity verification helps provide a smoother and more consistent experience for both customers and staff.

Identifying the right solution for Digital ID Verification

Docusign Identify is a family of products that already includes phone, access code, SMS and knowledge-based authentication options, and ID verification. Docusign ID Verification allows users to digitally verify their identity on practically any device, from almost anywhere. An individual is prompted via email to upload a copy or take a picture of their government-issued ID, e.g. a passport, driver's license or electronic ID (eID). Docusign ID Verification then applies machine learning technology to analyse and authenticate relevant features, like photography, security markings and watermarks of the ID document. An audit trail created by Docusign ID Verification provides peace of mind that organisations are fulfilling their AML and KYC obligations. By simplifying ID verification, Docusign technology streamlines the agreement process while providing new opportunities for business growth. Discover how Nationwide Building Society has used the Docusign Agreement Cloud, including Docusign Identify, to streamline their bank account opening process for customers. The average completion time of a new application opening for members is now just hours rather than days.