Financial Service Providers Have Less Than a Minute to Impress New Customers

More than 2-in-5 consumers feel identity verification takes too long, often pushing them to competitors.

For more than 2-in-5 (42%) consumers, identity verification when signing up to a new financial service via mobile takes too long. A quarter (24%) of consumers become frustrated after less than a minute and 38% will switch to a competitor if the verification process drags.

These findings are taken from recent research conducted by UK-based fintech Shufti Pro, which provides AI-backed identity verification solutions to global finance organisations. The research looks at attitudes towards mobile banking and found that consumers are becoming increasingly impatient during the sign-up process, especially when it comes to identity verification.

Female consumers appear to be more impatient than men, 57% of women want identity verification completed in under five minutes, compared to 49% of men. In the UK’s fintech capital – 2% of Londoners become frustrated after less than 30 seconds.

In addition to switching to a competitor if the verification process takes too long, a fifth would complain to the service or provider and 9% would write a negative review.

Victor Fredung, CEO of Shufti Pro, commented:

“The window in which to impress consumers is increasingly narrowing. It’s a given that consumers want security from the financial service providers but they increasingly want speed too. In a perfect world, digital onboarding should be a seamless experience for consumers. At the very least it should be less than 30 seconds. With new fintech players emerging all the time, the sector is increasingly competitive and it’s likely that the majority of consumers will soon expect to be verified and onboarded in a few seconds. This is entirely possible, but will require investment in the right technological capabilities.”  

 

Popularity of Mobile Banking

 
Despite increasingly high demands, 91% of those that use mobile banking prefer it to in-branch banking, this is because:

• 83% see it as quicker.
• 36% prefer because it they don’t have to talk to people.
• Almost a third (31%) feel mobile banking is personalised to their needs.

Neobanks lag behind traditional incumbents in terms of perceived safety:

• 83% feel safe using mobile services of traditional banks,
• 57% feel safe using mobile services of neobanks.

Increasing Comfort in Sharing Personal Details

 
It seems mobile banking is rising in popularity as consumers become increasingly comfortable with sharing their identity online:

• Over half (53%) are comfortable sharing personal docs for verification
• 68% are comfortable sharing driving license details
• 67% are comfortable sharing their home address
• 55% comfortable sharing passport details
• 38% are comfortable sharing biometrics.