In our last article, we talked about streamlining the account opening process. In this part of the series, we will introduce the option of optimizing your results by implementing uOpen & uFund&trade as a phased approach - leading with the online channel. Although many banks and credit unions prefer a complete rollout of their automated account opening process in all channels, the phased approach of implementation is more manageable for some financial institutions. From our experience, the most benefits are gained with the full solution, but there are situations in which a phased approach is better suited.

Evaluate Needs

 Let's begin with an evaluation of your business drivers and organizational priorities. You should assess your needs and set clear goals. It may not be practical to improve the entire account opening process across all delivery channels at the same time. A phased strategy with manageable releases along the way may be more suitable for your organization.

Some questions you need to ask yourself in order to evaluate whether the online channel is your priority above other channels are:

 • Has your charter or membership base expanded beyond your branch network?
 • Are your customers requesting more services online?
 • Has competition in your market begun offering advanced online services?
 • Do you wish to take the lead and offer better online services than your competition?
 • Do you want to go to market faster and grow deposits in order to fund the next phase of the    account opening process - in the branch and call center- or would you rather wait and have a unified online account process in all channels at once?

With uOpen & uFund&trade added to your banking website, your services will be more attractive with a new approach for opening and funding a new account. The online channel offers 24x7 service hours; customers can apply for accounts anytime, anywhere without being restricted by branch hours or locations.

The phased approach enables your financial institution to conduct market research determining what products and services are desired by your customers. With success, it will be easy to evaluate benefits for the branch and call center service phase.

Phased Approach - Leading With The Online Channel

With uMonitor's online account opening and funding, your financial institution can set itself apart from competitors in the complex banking industry, and also increase operational efficiencies, obtain more customers, and increase fraud protection. With uMonitor's uOpen & uFund, your financial can do all of these things and more! With uOpen & uFund&trade and a Relationship Switch Kit, uSwitch&trade you can:
• Increase account opening completion rates with a faster, simpler process that allows you to offer  the right products and capabilities to your customers.
• Build high customer satisfaction associated with fulfillment of self service options for opening an account. Customers can open and fund an account online 24x7 with standardized, real-time decisioning.
• Advance customer acquisition and lure wallet share from other financial institutions. By adding another sales channel to your existing branch channel, you can attract a new market of customers. You will extend your market into new demographic areas (i.e. Gen Y and tech-savvy) and geographical areas (wider footprint - extending outside areas where branches are located).
• Increase fraud protection with ID Verification, Patriot Act and CIP Compliance, and Multifactor Identity Verification. Your customer's data is authenticated with internal and third party data sources.
• Improve cross-sell ratios by using decisioning rules to offer uniquely specific products to each applicant. This allows you to deepen your relationship with each client by offering products to fulfill their individual needs.
• Increase direct deposits with uSwitch&trade. This product allows your customers to switch their relationships, such as direct deposits, credit cards, loans and bill payments, from other financial institutions to your financial institution.
• Improve backend reporting and monitoring with the Management Console, which allows your staff to run queues, run reports and view audit trails with step-by-step details for each applicant.

uOpen & uFund&trade is a service that is obtainable by any financial institution, whether it be in all channels at once - online, branch and call center - or as a phased approach.

Next week, we will explore "Open Accounts: Phase II - Branch and Call Center"