Transforming Client Onboarding for Commercial Banks: Beyond PPP and Retail Lending

In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, commercial and business banks face a pivotal moment. The commercial banking sector is projected to reach £3 trillion in revenue by 2026, outpacing retail banking and underscoring the immense growth potential in serving business and SME clients. Yet, the path to capturing this opportunity is fraught with challenges—particularly when it comes to client onboarding. As fintechs redefine expectations with seamless, digital-first experiences, incumbent banks must modernize their onboarding processes to remain competitive, compliant, and customer-centric.

Unlike retail or government-backed loan onboarding, commercial client onboarding is a complex, multi-layered process. Business and SME clients often operate across multiple entities, jurisdictions, and ownership structures, making Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance far more intricate. Manual processes, fragmented data, and legacy systems can stretch onboarding timelines from a few days to as long as six weeks or more. The result? Frustrated clients, lost revenue, and a growing risk of attrition as businesses seek out more agile, digitally native competitors.

Key pain points include:

• Cumbersome KYC and AML checks: Multi-entity and cross-jurisdictional structures require extensive documentation and validation, often leading to repeated requests and delays.
• Manual, siloed processes: Multiple handoffs between teams and systems increase the risk of errors, slow down onboarding, and create a disjointed client experience.
• Lack of transparency: Clients and relationship managers often lack real-time visibility into onboarding status, leading to confusion and dissatisfaction.
• Regulatory complexity: Ever-evolving compliance requirements demand agility and robust audit trails, which legacy systems struggle to provide.

Fintechs have set a new standard for onboarding, reducing processing times from weeks to as little as two to 48 hours. By digitizing customer journeys, automating eligibility and risk assessments, and leveraging real-time data sources, fintechs achieve:

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

These results are not just benchmarks—they are expectations that commercial clients now bring to every banking relationship. For incumbent banks, the message is clear: transform or risk losing market share.

At Publicis Sapient, we help commercial and business banks reimagine onboarding as a strategic growth driver. Our approach is rooted in:

1. End-to-End Digital Journeys

We design onboarding experiences that are intuitive, omnichannel, and tailored to the needs of business clients. From self-service portals for SMEs to relationship manager (RM)-led journeys for complex corporates, our solutions enable:

• Pre-filled applications that can be submitted in minutes
• Real-time document verification and identity checks
• Dynamic, digital document requests and uploads
• Application trackers for both clients and RMs, providing real-time status updates

2. Straight-Through Processing and Automation

By integrating AI-driven client lifecycle management, automated risk and compliance checks, and orchestration across systems, we enable straight-through processing (STP) for standard cases. This reduces onboarding times from weeks to hours—even for complex, multi-entity clients.

3. Modular, Composable Architecture

Our composable onboarding solutions are built to integrate seamlessly with existing core banking, payments, and CRM systems. This modularity allows banks to:

• Swap or add best-of-breed vendor solutions as needs evolve
• Orchestrate services using event-driven architecture for flexibility and scalability
• Maintain robust audit trails and compliance with evolving regulations

4. Enhanced Compliance and Risk Management

We embed real-time data checks, automated screening, and exception management into the onboarding workflow. This not only accelerates compliance but also reduces the risk of human error and ensures a consistent, auditable process.

5. Personalization and Relationship Deepening

Leveraging advanced data analytics, we help banks move beyond transactional onboarding to deliver personalized product recommendations and multi-product fulfillment, deepening client relationships from day one.

Our work with leading financial institutions demonstrates the transformative impact of digital onboarding:

• Onboarding times reduced from up to 30 days to as little as 48 hours
• Manual effort cut by up to 90% for standard scenarios
• Increased conversion rates and improved NPS
• Enhanced compliance and reduced operational risk

The commercial and SME banking segment is at a crossroads. As fintechs continue to raise the bar, incumbent banks must act decisively to modernize their onboarding processes. The rewards are clear: faster time-to-revenue, improved client satisfaction, and a stronger competitive position in a market poised for significant growth.

At Publicis Sapient, we combine deep financial services expertise with proven digital transformation capabilities to help banks lead this change. By embracing automation, composable technology, and a relentless focus on client experience, we empower commercial banks to turn onboarding from a bottleneck into a business accelerator.

Ready to transform your commercial onboarding experience? Connect with our experts to start your journey.

Relevant Links

• Helping Banks Manage New PPP Loan Requests | Publicis Sapient
• Helping Banks Manage New PPP Loan Requests | Publicis Sapient
• Regional Digital Lending Transformation: EMEA & APAC Focus
• Hyper-personnalisation du crédit : Réinventer l’expérience bancaire pour les PME européennes (Europe)
• Transformación Digital en Préstamos para PYMEs en América Latina: El Camino hacia la Agilidad y la Inclusión Financiera (LATAM)