How Are Banks Digitizing The Customer Onboarding Process?

In recent years, the concept of customer onboarding, meaning the process by which a bank accepts, verifies, and activates services for a new client, has undergone a profound transformation. Whereas customers once had to visit branches, complete lengthy forms, and wait hours for document verification, they can now open accounts and begin transacting with only a few actions on their phones.

Behind this change lies a digital revolution in Vietnam’s banking sector, where eKYC, artificial intelligence, and biometric technologies are progressively replacing manual procedures.

Digitalization trends in Vietnam’s banking sector

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, more than 95 percent of banks in Vietnam are implementing comprehensive digital transformation strategies, with customer onboarding regarded as the most important starting point. Major banks such as Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, and MB Bank have migrated most registration, verification, and account activation processes to digital channels. Specifically, MB Bank reports that 94% of its transactions are now conducted digitally. Techcombank records that over 70% of its new customers originate from online account opening channels. This shift is not only a technology race but also an effort to reduce costs, accelerate service delivery, and expand the customer base beyond major urban centers.

From eKYC to end-to-end onboarding

A major enabler of onboarding digitalization is the adoption of eKYC, the online customer identification and verification solution. Rather than meeting bank staff in person, customers simply install the bank’s mobile application, enter their phone number and OTP, photograph a chip ID card or passport, and capture a facial image for biometric verification. Optical character recognition technology automatically extracts data from identity documents, while artificial intelligence and face matching compare the captured images with official records. All of this occurs within minutes instead of hours or days. For example, Techcombank Mobile allows account opening and activation in under five minutes using facial verification combined with NFC chip ID scanning. Vietcombank Digibank has offered fully online eKYC account opening since mid-2021, significantly reducing branch workload.

Impact on banks and customers

Digital onboarding delivers tangible benefits for both banks and customers. For banks, it reduces operating costs, lowers staffing requirements, optimizes verification time, and enhances risk control through automation. Collected data is stored in synchronized form, supporting behavioral analysis and service personalization. For customers, the experience becomes smoother, safer, and faster. Account opening, card registration, and service activation are measured in minutes. A McKinsey study in 2023 found that banks implementing effective digital onboarding can increase new customer acquisition rates by 15-25% compared with traditional processes while reducing operating costs by up to 30%.

What Vietnamese banks are doing

Vietcombank

Since June 2021, Vietcombank has introduced online account opening via eKYC on the VCB Digibank application. Users only need to photograph their chip ID, complete facial verification, choose an account number, and receive activation notification within minutes. Vietcombank also waives transfer fees and maintains account balances during the initial period to encourage migration to digital channels.

BIDV

BIDV deploys eKYC through its SmartBanking application with a four-step process: registration, photo of chip ID card, facial verification, and account activation. Internal reports indicate a 300% increase in completed online registrations after eKYC adoption, with a significant reduction in manual entry errors.

Techcombank

Techcombank Mobile enables fully paperless and staff-free account opening. The system uses AI to analyze faces, detect spoofing attempts, and automatically cross-reference national population data. This ranks among the fastest onboarding processes in Vietnam.

Digital banks and FinTech

Digital banks such as Timo, Cake by VPBank, and TNEX have advanced 100% online onboarding models. Timo allows customers to open accounts with only a chip ID and facial verification, then delivers ATM cards to their homes free of charge. This approach reduces costs and improves access to tech-savvy younger segments.

Challenges: It is not just about technology

Despite significant progress, onboarding digitalization still faces challenges. First, although the national identity data infrastructure has reached an initial level of maturity, end-to-end connectivity among banks, regulators, and financial institutions is still expanding. Second, personal data security remains a central concern. Decree 13/2023 on personal data protection requires financial institutions to strictly manage the collection, storage, and processing of customer data. Finally, user habits are a major barrier, especially among older customers who are less familiar with digital interactions.

The role of solutions such as FPT eID

Effective digital onboarding requires a robust, accurate identity verification platform that complies with legal requirements. This is the role of FPT eID, FPT’s comprehensive identity and authentication solution. FPT eID offers advanced technologies, including eKYC for individual verification using chip ID card and biometric data, eKYB for corporate identification to support account opening for legal entities, and FPT.IDCheck for authenticating chip-based ID cards and detecting fraudulent registration. Banks integrating FPT eID can reduce customer verification times to a few seconds, achieve near-perfect accuracy of 99.9%, and meet regulatory requirements of the State Bank of Vietnam, Decree 13/2023, and Circular 50/2024.

Conclusion

Digitizing the onboarding process is not merely a technical upgrade but a core strategic move in the banking sector’s digital transformation. Institutions that lead with investments in identity verification and identity data will gain a decisive advantage in acquiring customers, improving operational efficiency, and strengthening market trust. With technology platforms such as FPT eID, Vietnam is progressing toward a safer, more transparent, and more convenient digital financial ecosystem than ever before.