Banks Look to Digitize Customer Onboarding

Several US banks have announced partnerships with financial technology companies in recent days, with a specific focus on digitizing the customer onboarding process.

First Federal Bank of Kansas City has joined forces with mobile banking specialist Narmi to launch new e-banking platform.

JR Buckner, First Federal’s president and CEO, said the partnership “brings improved, next-generation digital tools to First Federal’s 25,000 customers to make banking with us simpler, faster, and better”.

As well as on online account-opening process, Narmi offers customer identification and fraud protections and customizable features.

Separately, Atlanta, Georgia-based Agora Services has struck an agreement with two other technology specialists to build a digital onboarding platform for community banks and credit unions.

Agora, IDology and Middesk have worked together on the service, which Agora founder and CEO Arcady Lapiro said would streamline the onboarding process for business clients to “just a few minutes”. It means smaller banks can shift to an online model without having to completely overhaul their legacy technology, the company added in a statement.

Kyle Mack, CEO at Middesk, added: “Businesses make up a bank’s most profitable and successful customers, and today’s small business owners demand the same digital banking capabilities available to retail customers. Our partnership with Agora Services provides fast and secure onboarding so that new business customers can begin banking as fast as possible.”

Elsewhere, Connecticut-based Liberty Bank of Middletown, a large mutual bank, has moved to digitize its payments function for customers through a partnership with Payrailz.

The digital payments specialist will power Liberty Bank’s payment platform, providing billing and money transfer services to individuals and businesses, using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.

In a press release announcing the arrangement, Payrailz cited a BCG survey that found more than a third (37%) of respondents wanted their bank to be “more like Amazon”, providing customizable features.