New research shows digital unavailability and restrictions in movement have left over a third of consumers out of options.

Some 41% of consumers across Europe have been unable to access new financial services thanks to a combination of pandemic lockdown restrictions and lack of access to digital options.

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The figures are released by identity verification solution providers Signicat. The research also discovered that two-thirds expect improvements following these poor experiences. One of these improvements should be 100% digital onboarding of customers.

With many bank branches closed in recent months, and movement limited for most people to short essential trips, access to financial services in person has been limited like never before. Many consumers have turned to online and mobile channels, but a large number have found this impossible.

When asked what they thought of financial service providers that didn’t allow remote digital onboarding without the need to visit a branch, only 20% were understanding of this limitation. A third of consumers couldn’t see why fully digital onboarding wasn’t possible in 2020. Two thirds of respondents saw COVID-19 as a catalyst for 100% digital onboarding with only 14% disagreeing, saying that they did not expect financial service providers to be more digital due to COVID-19.

The battle to onboard

The findings will be released in Signicat’s upcoming report “The Battle to Onboard 2020: The impact of COVID-19 and beyond”.

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70% of those surveyed had an account with a digital-first financial service provider such as a challenger bank, and 69% of those considered it to be better than more traditional services. Those dissatisfied with their experience under lockdown are more likely than ever to move to a mobile-first account. With most consumers using a mobile service and enjoying the experience, traditional providers are more at risk than ever from consumers moving their day-to-day finances to challengers.

“Our regular research into consumer attitudes around digital onboarding has found that financial services have struggled to keep up with consumer demands in the later years,” said Asger Hattel, CEO, Signicat.

“One of the effects of the pandemic has been to bring this into sharp focus, turning a desire for digital services into a desperate need.

“Consumers expect to be digital customers which are, according to big banks, 2-3 times more profitable and more loyal than branch-only customers.”

“The majority of consumers want the option of banking 100% digitally, including the initial application and onboarding. Digital onboarding is in fact crucial, as consumers will see it as a preview of the service—a poor user experience will lead to many abandoned applications.”