eKYC - The solution for attracting online customers in BFSI sector

Comparing customer journals between traditional identification and electronic identification reveals significant differences. In the traditional model, to open an account, customers must visit a branch of the financial institution, wait in line, fill out paperwork, and present identification documents. Finally, the bank staff manually verifies the customer’s identity. This process can take several hours.

In contrast to traditional customer identification, customers can open an account online using eKYC technology in just a few minutes with a few simple steps: opening a website or mobile app, filling in their information, capturing their identification documents (national ID card, passport, etc.), and completing a facial recognition process. As a result, a bank account is created.

This is an incredibly convenient experience, which is why customers turned to banks offering eKYC services to open accounts during the pandemic, prioritizing contactless interactions.

Benefits of eKYC application

In addition to attracting customers, eKYC provides significant value across various aspects for financial institutions, such as:

1. Speed and efficiency: As explained above, opening an account only takes a few minutes without waiting in line, and accounts can be opened 24/7, with no barriers except for the need for internet access.
2. Cost savings: Comparing traditional methods and eKYC reveals savings in several areas: time, paperwork, and human resources.
3. Reduced fraud risk: eKYC minimizes risks associated with human error that can be difficult to detect, such as fake identification, fraud, and money laundering.
4. Enhanced customer experience: eKYC undoubtedly provides a satisfying experience for most customers, as they do not waste time or effort traveling for transactions while quickly receiving account setup results. Additionally, it reduces the risk of losing documents that are required for traditional account opening.

eKYC application in Vietnam

Since July 2020, several banks have pioneered this technology, including TPBank, VPBank, HDBank, Viet Capital Bank, NCBank, and LienVietPostBank. In 2021, many other banks continued to implement online account opening services using eKYC, such as BIDV and VietcomBank.

Some notable figures include TPBank attracting 30,000 customers to open accounts online, equivalent to 85% of customers who would typically register in person or through LiveBank; HDBank reporting over 15,000 accounts verified electronically within a month of implementation, among others.