Secure Account Opening Wins in a Digital World

In a hyperconnected world, it’s hard to name a transaction, financial or otherwise, that takes more than a few moments. Much of our business and personal lives take place on a tiny mobile screen. Instant results are the universal expectation. Buying a pair of shoes, commenting on a social post, and paying utility bills are all part of consumers’ continuous, uninterrupted flow. If it happens on a screen, it has to be now, now, now. Secure account opening is no different. Make your customer wait, and they’re gone. 

While account opening should take only seconds, issues like manual uploads and microdeposits add delays. Finicity, a Mastercard company, is addressing this new reality aggressively, stripping away friction points in the account set-up, onboarding and funding process. Open banking introduces new ways for financial institutions to verify account ownership and authenticate credentials. Accounts are opened and funded in moments, with a full package of data that includes account owners, details and balances. This creates the perception of immediacy that the end-user expects throughout their on-screen day.

Locking Fraudsters Out of the System

Understandably the risk, compliance, and customer experience balance is delicate. Efficiency can’t compromise fraud prevention. That’s why Finicity built its payment solution behind a driving principle: Pay Confidently. This means secure, lightning-fast account credential and balance verification. Financial service providers can verify account ownership and simplify the process by implementing their own application pre-fill functionality. Access to bank account data with instant account verification boosts sign-ups, reduces non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees and lowers abandonment rates. The connectivity is also useful when customers have an existing relationship with an FI but want to move money or add services. Data services help FIs verify account details and balances in milliseconds so they can move money accurately and securely.

Throughout the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, online fraud attacks rose by 250%. By far, the majority of them were account takeover scams, where fraudsters steal credentials and account information to siphon funds away from account holders. These attacks rose by a staggering 650%. In 2020 alone, the FTC tracked $3.3 billion in fraud losses to consumers. The convergence of fast-paced digital banking growth and a new wave of inexperienced customers created an opportunity for criminals to exploit. Finicity built its payment solution to cancel out these threats. Finicity Pay uses secure, tokenized access that yields no meaningful data if hacked. Our account verification service instantly and accurately identifies the account holder, stamping out account takeover scams before they get started. The user experience is positive, fast, and most importantly, onboarding is completed at the exact moment that the consumer wants to complete it. 

Why Finicity Open Banking?

• 95% Market coverage of direct deposit accounts. From the largest FIs to the smallest credit unions  – Finicity has you covered. Receive fast, reliable financial data that has been permissioned by the consumer for their benefit. Finicity is leading the industry towards direct API connections, signing Data Access Agreements with the largest financial institutions, payroll providers and wealth management companies.
• Added intelligence and deep learning. The analytics layer in our data services enables accurate, confident payments and verifications. Our added intelligence helps mitigate fraud risk, reduce payment failure and fees, enable onboarding, and maintain compliance.

A True Partner 

The open banking wave is just beginning to rise. COVID-19 has only accelerated the shift to digital banking options that offer faster, slicker ways to set up new accounts, move money and make payments. From October 2020 to August 2021 alone, Gen Zers and Millennials doubled their adoption of digital banks as the primary holder of their accounts. Open banking is the backbone behind the innovation and lifestyle options that are driving fintech app growth.

This is where Finicity provides a differentiated experience. As an innovation partner, Finicity’s development team can identify the best tools to suit your unique use case with the transparency and control that consumers demand. If they feel they can easily set up a new account and then pay quickly and safely, they will adopt your platform. The confidence that secure account opening inspires will drive down-funnel conversions and build confidence in your organization. 

Visit our demo page to see how Finicity can help you innovate with data today.