In today’s commercial banking landscape, client onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes are more than regulatory requirements—they are critical moments that define the client experience and set the tone for long-term relationships. Yet, for many incumbent banks, these processes remain cumbersome, manual, and slow, often taking anywhere from seven to 42 days to onboard a new business client. In a sector where global revenues are projected to reach £3 trillion by 2026, the stakes for getting onboarding right have never been higher.
Despite the promise of digital transformation, many commercial banks still rely on legacy systems and fragmented workflows. The result? A labyrinth of manual data entry, document collection, and multiple touchpoints that frustrate clients and relationship managers alike. For 67% of banking clients, onboarding and KYC are the single biggest barriers to starting a new banking relationship. More than half of commercial clients are actively reconsidering their banking relationships, and banks are losing an estimated £3.3 billion annually due to KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) challenges that degrade the client experience.
Fintechs and challenger banks have set a new benchmark for onboarding speed and simplicity. By digitizing customer journeys, reimagining colleague interventions, updating policies, and modernizing legacy systems, fintechs have slashed onboarding times from weeks to as little as two to 48 hours. Their approach delivers:
This rapid, client-centric onboarding is not just a differentiator—it’s becoming the expectation. Incumbent banks that fail to keep pace risk losing market share to more agile competitors.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are at the heart of the onboarding revolution. By integrating AI-powered solutions across the client lifecycle, banks can:
AI-driven onboarding platforms leverage identity and access management, real-time data validation from trusted sources, dynamic document requests, and advanced optical character recognition (OCR) to eliminate manual bottlenecks. For complex cases—such as multi-entity or multi-jurisdictional clients—AI enables exception management, automated risk scoring, and seamless collaboration between clients and bank colleagues.
Leading banks are embracing a north-star vision for end-to-end onboarding, built on:
This approach is supported by orchestration and event-driven architectures, allowing banks to integrate best-of-breed solutions and adapt quickly to regulatory or market changes.
Publicis Sapient has partnered with leading financial institutions to design and implement digital onboarding experiences that rival the best fintechs. By leveraging a composable architecture and a robust partner ecosystem, we have enabled:
Our solutions empower banks to offer multi-channel onboarding (web, mobile), real-time status tracking, and seamless integration with core banking and payment systems. The result is a frictionless, transparent, and compliant onboarding journey that deepens client relationships and drives business growth.
The future of commercial banking onboarding is digital, intelligent, and client-centric. As fintechs continue to raise the bar, incumbent banks must embrace AI and automation not just to keep up, but to lead. By transforming onboarding and KYC into seamless, value-added experiences, banks can:
Now is the time to reimagine onboarding—not as a regulatory hurdle, but as a strategic opportunity. With the right technology, partners, and vision, commercial banks can turn a historic pain point into a powerful engine for growth and differentiation.
Ready to transform your onboarding experience? Connect with Publicis Sapient to start your journey.