First Internet Bank selected Narmi, a digital banking solution provider, to help clients open business accounts digitally, last month.  

The move has helped the $4.5 billion bank decrease the time needed to open a business account by 65%, Craig Fortner, chief information officer at First Internet Bank, told Bank Automation News. Business customers can open accounts with the digital-first bank in less than 10 minutes, he said.

“As an internet bank, the account-opening process is their first interaction with us, it’s our front door,” Fortner said. “And ultimately, we wanted them to be able to not just apply for an account but [get] funded and be able to access their account online and immediately begin working with it.” 

Upgrading the process helps the Fishers, Ind.-based bank provide a better user experience with less friction and higher conversion rates, he said, adding that First IB offers digital account openings for all account types, ranging from checking to savings and now business accounts. 

Since First IB is a digital-only bank, “it is critical for us to open accounts and drive deposits because we don’t have the branch network like a credit union,” Fortner said. 

FIs digitalize their platforms

The pandemic was a major catalyst for many financial institutions to digitalize operations, but now it is being undertaken to remain competitive, Adam Shpiro, general manager at Narmi, told BAN. 

“Some clients are seeing a bounceback in branch account opening, but generally speaking, the trend is definitely moving in the direction of more and more digital,” Shpiro said. 

However, many financial institutions “do not have an end-to-end account opening solution that is entirely online,” Shpiro said. 

Narmi has banking clients have assets from “a few hundred million dollars to up to $15 billion,” he said, adding that customers are using more digital channels, Shpiro said. 

According to Narmi, among the financial institutions utilizing its solution are: 

• BerkshireHills Bankcorp; 
• Grasshopper;  
• Greater Alliance Credit Federal Union; and  
• Freedom Credit Union.  

“We on the consumer side, are opening accounts as quickly as, you know, less than three minutes and on the business side, it is usually around 10 minutes,” Shpiro said.