By: Primax
Need groceries? Pull up the grocery store app — click on your items — receive them within the hour. Want a special film for movie night? It’s probably available instantly on Hulu, Apple TV, Amazon or Netflix – and if you don’t have the right streaming service, you can access it in just a few clicks. It’s the way we live today – in a connected, ever more friction-free world, where we’ve come to expect instant gratification for a wide variety of goods and services.
And that includes financial services, too. Consumers of all ages increasingly expect to bank and handle their finances in a friction-free environment. And many aspects of the financial experience do deliver (online and mobile banking, payment apps, mobile wallets, one-click purchases). However, the lending process – full of paperwork, backlogs and unnecessary complexity — has undeniably lagged behind.
Until now. The lending experience is being reimagined by forward-thinking banks and fintechs, focused on a simple idea: drastically reduce unnecessary complexity and get credit into qualifying members’ hands quickly, securely and seamlessly.
The Challenge
“Seamless” isn’t just a marketing buzzword — it’s a competitive advantage, and it meets consumers where they are.
In the past, loan origination systems were complex by design; think sitting with a loan officer completing pre-printed forms that were often outdated or irrelevant (“Don’t they already know this about me?!”), then waiting several business days for an approval. But credit cards are a much simpler loan type, and we have the technology to integrate with multiple systems, including core, credit card processors and digital platforms – all in real time. If today’s consumers must go through that legacy cumbersome process, or even an online process that’s slow or redundant, they’re going to take their business elsewhere. High abandonment rates, especially on mobile, are a clear sign that “cumbersome” equals failure.
Today, more than half (55%) of credit card applications are initiated after normal business hours or on weekends. But instant digital lending isn’t simply about moving an application from paper to online so it’s available 24/7. It’s about streamlining every step, removing every unnecessary barrier, and delivering credit products in real time. New digital lending solutions can have mind-blowing results with fast and secure mobile-first lending experiences. Applicants can apply anytime, get instantly approved, and start using their digital credit card immediately. And, if needed, they can also become a bank customer — all within a few minutes — without ever stepping into a branch, speaking to someone, or waiting to receive their plastic card in the mail.
A full 90% of new credit cards are issued by national banks and non-bank fintechs. If financial institutions want to stay relevant, they must meet customers in the moment — with tools that are not just digital, but that provide a seamless experience, too.
This is what “seamless” looks like today:
- Smart verification using mobile number and one-time passcodes
- Prefilled forms through intelligent data sourcing — no repetitive typing
- Core integration to instantly verify existing bank customers or onboard new customers
- Instant decisioning powered by advanced underwriting rules
- Immediate card delivery to a mobile wallet — no waiting for physical cards
For users, this can feel like magic. For banks, it can help them grow by automatically registering new customers and getting virtual cards into their hands instantly.
Seamless Experiences Can Be Secure, Too
When done right, instant credit card origination doesn’t need to sacrifice security. Encryption is employed to protect applicants’ personal information and multi-factor authentication helps verify their identity.
Most digital lending solutions embed robust fraud detection at every stage. Fraud prevention technology, often using AI, evaluates personal information, device data, Know Your Customer (KYC) risk scores and more, all while the applicant completes the necessary prompts. Today’s advanced fraud technology makes for a more seamless experience for legitimate users while becoming a dead end for fraudsters.
The New Standard
Instant, seamless and secure credit origination is not just a “nice to have” feature; going forward, it will be the new standard. Not sure how to get started or want to learn more? Consider partnering with a fintech like Primax and start building your instant, seamless and secure credit card origination experience today.