Modernizing Commercial Banking: Transforming Client Onboarding and Experience

In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, commercial and business banking is at a pivotal crossroads. The sector is poised for extraordinary growth, with global commercial banking revenues projected to reach £3 trillion by 2026. Yet, this opportunity comes with a challenge: the client onboarding process remains a significant barrier to growth, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. As fintechs set new standards for speed and seamlessness, incumbent banks must reimagine onboarding to remain competitive and capture market share.

The Onboarding Challenge: Where Incumbents Fall Behind

For many commercial banks, onboarding new clients—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates—remains a complex, manual, and time-consuming process. Industry surveys reveal that onboarding can take anywhere from seven to 42 days, with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks being major pain points. These delays not only frustrate clients but also result in substantial revenue loss—estimated at £3.3 billion annually due to onboarding inefficiencies and compliance challenges.

The root causes are clear:

Manual, fragmented processes with multiple touchpoints and handoffs
Legacy systems that are inflexible and difficult to integrate
Siloed data and lack of real-time information sharing
Cumbersome compliance checks that slow down decision-making

As a result, 67% of commercial banking clients cite onboarding as the biggest hurdle to starting a new banking relationship, and over half are actively reconsidering their banking providers due to these friction points.

Fintechs: Setting the Pace for Speed and Satisfaction

Fintech challengers have fundamentally redefined what’s possible in client onboarding. By digitizing customer journeys, automating colleague interventions, updating policies, and modernizing legacy systems, fintechs have slashed onboarding times from weeks to as little as two to 48 hours. The results are striking:

80–90% reduction in manual effort for standard onboarding scenarios
Net Promoter Scores (NPS) exceeding 70, reflecting high client satisfaction
85–90% completion rates from registration to submission

Fintechs achieve this by leveraging:

End-to-end digital journeys that minimize manual intervention
Real-time data checks and document verification
Automated risk and compliance assessments
Multi-channel access (web, mobile, chatbots) for client convenience

These innovations have set a new benchmark for what commercial clients expect—speed, transparency, and a frictionless experience.

Publicis Sapient’s Approach: From Weeks to Hours

At Publicis Sapient, we believe that incumbent banks can not only catch up but leap ahead by embracing a holistic, technology-driven approach to onboarding transformation. Our vision is to help commercial banks reduce onboarding times from weeks to hours, delivering a seamless, scalable, and client-centric experience.

Key Pillars of Modern Onboarding Transformation

Automation and Straight-Through Processing (STP):
- Automate KYC, AML, and risk assessments using AI-integrated client lifecycle management systems
- Enable real-time document checks, OCR, and dynamic data validation
- Reduce manual Full-Time Employee (FTE) effort by up to 90% for standard cases
Composable, Modular Architectures:
- Implement composable onboarding platforms that allow banks to swap and add best-of-breed vendor solutions as needs evolve
- Use orchestration and event-driven architectures to ensure modularity, encapsulation, and seamless integration with core banking and payment systems
Digital-First, Omnichannel Journeys:
- Design self-service onboarding for business banking and lower-end SME clients
- Enable Relationship Manager (RM)-initiated journeys for higher-end SME and corporate clients
- Provide multi-user, multi-entity onboarding capabilities and real-time application tracking for both clients and RMs
Real-Time Data and Collaboration Tools:
- Integrate internal and third-party data sources for instant eligibility and risk decisioning
- Deploy collaboration tools (chatbots, video calls) for complex cases
- Offer real-time notifications and status updates to clients and colleagues
Scalable, Cloud-Native Infrastructure:
- Leverage cloud-native platforms for agility, resilience, and rapid scaling
- Ensure compliance and security through automated controls and continuous monitoring

The Future State: Seamless, Scalable, and Client-Centric

Imagine a future where:

Clients can submit a pre-filled application in 5–10 minutes
Standard onboarding is completed in under two hours, with complex cases resolved within 24 hours
Real-time ID and liveliness checks, dynamic document requests, and instant account opening are the norm
Relationship Managers have a 360-degree view of the client, enabling proactive service and cross-sell opportunities
Clients receive instant onboarding confirmation and can access a suite of products and services immediately

This is not a distant vision—it’s achievable today with the right strategy, technology, and partner ecosystem.

Proven Impact: Real-World Results

Publicis Sapient has helped leading banks achieve:

90% straight-through processing, reducing onboarding to under 10 minutes
13 self-service options for customer independence
360° customer views for personalized service
Expedited payments, with 90% of customers accessing funds within two hours

Our approach blends deep industry expertise, agile methodologies, and a robust partner ecosystem to deliver transformation at speed and scale.

Why Now?

With commercial banking clients demanding more—and fintechs raising the bar—modernizing onboarding is no longer optional. It’s a strategic imperative for growth, client retention, and operational excellence. By embracing automation, composable architectures, and digital-first journeys, commercial banks can turn onboarding from a pain point into a competitive advantage.

Ready to transform your onboarding experience? Connect with Publicis Sapient to lead the next wave of commercial banking innovation.