To be an effective financial institution in today's market, you need to not only be present online, you need to offer all the services users want and you need to be noticed. According to a recent Celent report, "Online Account Opening: Raising the Bar," it is imperative for financial institutions to streamline their account opening process for not only market differentiation but also high customer satisfaction levels.

As everyone rushes to add the same features, functions and services online, the key to your online success will be in differentiation. For example, with the success of ING Direct, there is a rush to open your online delivery channel for opening new accounts.

Madhavi Mantha, a Celent Senior Analyst and author of the report, was quoted saying that a financial institution's "goal is to implement a paperless and customer-friendly account opening process that takes place in minutes, rather than days or weeks." They must "focus on improving the quality of their interaction with customers across at the point of acquisition across all channels or risk losing deposits to more nimble players."

The report identifies four key steps in the online account opening process, which are:

1. Data Capture

2. Customer ID Verification

3. Decisioning and Account Approval

4. Account Funding

Now, as a financial institution looks at their own process and selects a partner to land their own online account opening service, they need to make sure their chosen vendor can provide the necessary "differentiation" to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Selecting uMonitor's uOpen & uFund&trade solution will give you that differentiation. uOpen & uFund™ can make you unique, not only in your user interactions but in all of the above four areas.

Each one of these steps on the list can be seamlessly executed by utilizing uMonitor's uOpen & uFund&trade service.

In regard to Data Capture, uOpen & uFund&trade:

• Captures personal information, products and additional services in a flow that transitions the applicant seamlessly through the process.

• Asks your applicant for as much information or as little information as your financial institution requires.

• Allows applicants to save and return to an application.

For Customer ID Verification, uOpen & uFund&trade:

• Integrates seamlessly with many providers of out of wallet questions, OFAC list checks and fraud reporting agencies.

In Decisioning and Account Opening, uOpen & uFund&trade:

• Creates your own business rules to offer applicants products or additional services to create a customized experience for the applicant.

• Uses the included management console to contact applicants that may have abandoned or did not successfully complete the application process.

Account Funding, via uOpen & uFund&trade:

• Offers applicants several funding options which include: credit, debit, ACH, or check by mail.

• Lets uMonitor process the ACH transaction for your financial institution, without your having to process or manage the files.

And all of the steps can be done within minutes. So, canU step out of the cookie cutter mold and differentiate yourself online? With uMonitor, uCan!