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Banking on the Unbanked

Before we delve into the subject of unbanked and underbanked, here’s a look at some statistics – Seven countries across the globe account for 50% of the world’s unbanked population, and India is second on the list. 11% of India’s population is completely unbanked, and even more are underbanked. Although there has been a decline in figures in recent times, there is no ignoring the fact that a large part of the population still needs to be catered to.

Who is an unbanked or underbanked customer?

An unbanked customer is one who doesn’t have any savings or current account with a bank, owing to which they cannot use traditional banking services either. On the other hand an underbanked customer has access to savings and current accounts, however, these are through alternative financial institutions and not banks.

There are plenty of reasons as to why someone may be unbanked. Some of these being

  • Not having enough savings
  • Having concerns about privacy and security
  • Not wanting to pay bank charges; and more.

But the primary concern, at least in India, continues to be that firstly, rural areas don’t have enough transport facilities to reach the bank. Secondly, the interiors do not have enough bandwidth to support online banking processes, even if the branch is distant.

Why you need to bank on the unbanked?

When banks don’t engage with the unbanked and underbanked, many financial institutions lose out on the opportunity to reach out to them as well, because they don’t appear on the financial map. Additionally, owing to the current digital shift, there is a growing need to reach out even to the hinterlands because digital is the future, and the only way to be all-inclusive is to reach one and all and offer a standardised payment process for all. 

Some other reasons why you should focus on the unbanked include:

  • Higher revenue for financial institutions
  • Connects you to an emerging market
  • Safeguards the interests of the lower income groups

Here’s how you can reach them:

Eliminate barriers: Many people from rural areas fear banking, offline or online, because of illiteracy or language barriers. Using technology like chatbots, translators, Neurolinguistic programming, virtual assistance, etc, you can assure your potential customers that they can bank on someone who understands their needs well and is willing to guide them thoroughly with every step of the process.

Reduce physical branches: If the underbanked find it difficult to go to banks, you bring the bank to them. With digital opportunities like Video -KYC onboarding and internet banking, customers don’t need to step out anymore to complete the banking formalities. Promise your customers that the system is completely secure with AI based features like liveliness, facematch, and two-step authentication, so they don’t have any security concerns. At Kwik.ID we noticed that these additional security features in our V-KYC tool made a huge difference while onboarding customers who were worried about their data being misused.

Offer a low-bandwidth facility: How are customers going to opt for digital banking if high data requirements won’t let them complete their procedures? Building a low-bandwidth infrastructure for your unbanked and underbanked population is imperative for noteworthy results. Let media upload sizes be at a minimum, and let your software adjust to data speeds as low as possible. Offering a data speed as low as 170 kbps, we noticed that our Video kYC onboarding call drops reduced drastically and we had an 85% success rate owing to low bandwidth and easy accessibility.

Encourage financial education: Another significant reason why the unbanked don’t invest is because they aren’t aware of banking benefits in the first place. Train your employees and agents to educate them better. They can use digital media in the form of short videos, flowcharts, images and more, to explain the onboarding and banking process, needs for savings, credit application, and many other topics that can easily be conveyed over video. Connect your customers to regional agents who are comfortable speaking the language and can understand the client better. This is necessary especially during the Video -KYC onboarding process, or any other video interaction that makes the conversation more smooth-sailing.

Banking the unbanked isn’t as tough as it looks and doing so has its advantages for both – the banks and the customers too. With the right technology, the right V-KYC tool, and the right goals, the 11% of unbanked India can soon be well-banked and serviced too.

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Choosing the Right Video KYC Vendor

With work from home becoming the new normal, businesses too have adapted to digital platforms, and everything that once happened in-person, now happens online. From reaching out to your customers, onboarding them and providing them with the best customer service. But how does one choose a Video KYC (V-KYC) tool to onboard customers instantly?

Traditionally, video-based customer identification process (V-CIP) took days, but with the best Video KYC tools, it can be done in less than 3 minutes!

Here’s what to look out for when choosing a V-KYC platform.

Security and Fraud Prevention

For financial institutions and banks, nothing matters more than protecting their data and ensuring that no fraudulent activities occur in the onboarding process. Any step in the process is a major concern—from storing video data, customer details, adhering to regulations, et al., to making sure there is no data tampering or leakage. With a V-KYC tool like Kwik.ID, which offers end-to-end encryption and AI-assisted Liveliness, Facematch and OCR, businesses are promised complete data security and customer authenticity. The Liveliness tool also captures the customer in real-time, thereby eliminating the risk of any bot breaching the platform’s security.

Demo V-KYC

How often have you been told to buy it only after you try it? When you invest in a V-KYC tool that is important for your business, you deserve nothing but the best. Make sure you are given a guided demo of the preferred V-KYC tool. Right from the ease of operation to the user dashboard, security measures, multilingual interface, low bandwidth mode, your V-KYC vendor should have everything ticked off the list that your business needs for a smooth onboarding experience. Pick the right one only when you are completely satisfied with the KYC demo. You can also register for Kwik.ID’s demo here.

Drop-off Rate

At Kwik.ID we understand how frustrating call drops can be, which is why we are strong advocates of low bandwidth compatibility. With a speed of 176 kbps, we noticed over 85% success rate with fewer call drops and more customer satisfaction with quick onboarding. When your customers are spread across the country, they could be in remote areas without enough access to high-speed internet. In such cases, you need to ensure that your V-KYC/ Video KYC vendors offer a low bandwidth mode, so that no matter where your agent or customer are located, business does not cease due to poor network.

RBI Compliance

For businesses, especially Video KYC for Banks and financial institutions, adhering to the policies and norms is an integral element. Ensure that the V-KYC tool you choose is 100% RBI compliant, ISO certified, and driven by an RE official and an auditor who are trained and authorized to work on a V-KYC platform. Kwik.ID’s V-KYC tool also offers easy deployment on RE’s cloud domain as well as its data centres.

Cost Reduction

Remember the time, effort and money spent sending field agents across areas to complete the customer verification process? Or the wait time customers spent in a queue to get documents verified?

Choosing a time-efficient V-KYC vendor will eliminate all of that. From onboarding 5 customers in an hour, you can onboard up to 20 in an hour! Not only does a good Video based KYC identification tool save time and complete the verification process in < 3 minutes, it also helps reduce travel and documentation cost by  ~80%.

V-KYC Accuracy

After making sure that your V-KYC tool matches all your requirements, you certainly need to assess its ROI via a dashboard that monitors and manages all your data and details stored. Check that your dashboard offers key metrics like drop-off rate, completion rate, call wait time and more, so you can track agent efficiency and check on how to improve your onboarding service. Other accuracy checks involve AI-assisted tools like Facematch and Liveliness, which verify customer authenticity and allow no room for error.

Choosing the right V-KYC platform is just as important as training your agents and employees to get it right. If you are investing in a tool that eases your business process, you will prefer to invest in the best. With V-KYC vendors like Kwik.ID, you are promised all of the above and swift onboarding in just 2 minutes.

Choose wisely!

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PFRDA Allows Onboarding Subscribers via Video KYC (V-CIP)

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) permitted its intermediaries on October 6 to use Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) for new onboarding and/or account withdrawals by National Pension System (NPS) subscribers. PFRDA’s announcement comes on the heels of IRDAI allowing life and general insurers to leverage video KYC facility, to vet customer credentials for new customer onboarding. Earlier this year, the RBI had amended the KYC norms, thereby allowing all banks and lending institutions to use V-CIP. Not to forget that most NPS distributors are regulated by the SEBI and RBI, who had already approved video based KYC. It is not surprising that  PFRDA has followed suit.

The need and benefits are many, some obvious, and some not so much.

Why was the VCIP process required?

PFRDA which regulates NPS has been constantly introducing new methods of subscriber authentication and various modes of KYC to make the overall process seamless and subscriber friendly. It has already announced a slew of measures like offline Aadhaar based onboarding, third-party reliance for KYC, OTP/ eSign based onboarding and e-exit for eNPS Subscribers.

Still, NPS subscribers were facing many challenges. For instance, they had to be present for in-person verification at the POP (Points of Physical Presence) which resulted in a delay in the process of withdrawal as well as exit. Video-Based Customer Identification Process (VCIP) will do away with the requirement of compulsory physical presence. 

VCIP allows for remote/ at-home opening of NPS account

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing everyone into their homes, the turnaround time for onboarding processes has gone up significantly. Residential buildings have multiple rules around allowing visitors, for instance, which adds to further inconvenience and friction.

VCIP, apart from making the overall process paperless and instantaneous, also helps subscribers avail NPS services without being physically present at the POPs. The truly remote and secure nature of VCIP allows for better customer experience

Cost-effective vis-a-vis Physical KYC

Video KYC is as much about speed as it is about cost effectiveness. Processes can be designed for minimal steps (UI) and great User experience (UX). Opting for digital video identification solutions also brings down the cost compared to physical KYC. Additionally, a single agent delivers 15-20x productivity of an in-field agent. If the average cost of physical KYC of the customer would cost Rs 200, the video-based process cost will come down to 10-20 percent of the entire cost over the medium to long term.

VCIP reduces dependency on third party service providers and facilitates 2 mins onboarding process

The traditional KYC process can often take 10-15 days as there are were too many steps, entities, and checks and balances involved. On the other hand, a direct two-way audio video communication between the customer and authorized agent of the regulated entity can be established, thereby eliminating the dependency on any third party. One can complete KYC and onboarding through VCIP in a single video call, powered by intelligent queuing and experience management algorithms, as it will be a direct interaction between the customer and the representative. The humanisation of digital channels creates seamless, empathy and higher conversion rates. Well designed journeys can be executed in less than 2 minutes

Video KYC makes life easier for intermediaries as well

As per the the new guidelines, Points of Presence (PoPs) registered with PFRDA, must adhere to the V-CIP guidelines, issued by regulators for performing NPS related activities. By doing this the PFRDA intermediaries will not have any extra burden due to the introduction of the VCIP facility.

Technologists often speculate about the next wave of customer engagement. Video, with the decreasing cost of bandwidth and increasing adoption of internet based communication (such as Whatsapp Videos, Tik-Tok, Zoom, etc.), is the next big of driving customer interactions, and will increasingly be used by businesses to drive B2C interactions. The introduction of VCIP across products will also drive positive impact  in financial inclusion initiatives; bringing people who were hitherto unable to avail financial services due to geographical and access challenges, time constraints or cost factor, into the mainstream.