Digital Onboarding in the Customer Registration Process for Financial Services and Products

Abstract

Banks are increasingly adopting new technologies to better identify new customers, securely au- thenticate existing customers, protect high-value transactions and fight fraud. The profile of the banking user has changed a lot and, today, it is unimaginable to think of the old customer service model during business hours. The customer wants to access his account and make transactions 24 hours a day, without relying on third-party authorization, let alone travel to the premises. Registration in a digital bank is intended to be quick and easy, but not unsafe. On the contrary, the process of document validation and profile analysis should be carried out flawlessly, trans- parently and reliably for both parties, which is made possible thanks to technological advances. The Digital Onboarding makes the entire consumer registration cycle 100% electronic. No more papers, company recognition and receipts would be needed to open an account. Direct human interaction only occurs, occasionally, in more advanced stages of registration and when there are pending issues or doubts about the validation of a new customer. It is up to fintechs the challenge of creating safe environments with efficient communication to attract and retain customers. The Agency for Administrative Modernization (AMA) is responsible for authentication solu- tions that aim to guarantee physical and electronic security, reducing the risk of fraud and preserv- ing the confidentiality and privacy rights of personal data. In order to build a system capable of identifying who a person really claims to be, we will use the services of this government agency, namely through the Citizen's Card (CC) or the Digital Mobile Key (CMD). With this project we intend to develop a web platform that automates the registration process of new customers through the use of the application programming interface (API) of AMA and other government agencies, such as ePortugal or Portal da Empresa. These APIs will allow consumers, by entering sensitive data such as their Tax Identification Number (TIN) or mobile phone number, or by reading their CC, to quickly and securely search for other sensitive data that identifies their private business or the person itself. In this way, the customer knows that he is giving consent to use his data, which will then be saved and used to create our customer's profile. In addition to account registration, these APIs can also be used as an alternative way for the user to authenticate in the backoffice, or to verify and validate the content of documents. With this work, we hope to improve the onboarding of future clients in the financial sector, saving time both for consumers, in searching and filling in information, as well as for professionals in the sector, in obtaining and validating this information.