Open an account in minutes: digital onboarding for two securities firms
Two securities firms, each part of a large Indian banking group, wanted their bank customers to open demat and trading accounts without paper, branch visits or a week of waiting.
7 to 15 days to open an account
Long paper forms, signatures in many places, photocopies couriered to a processing centre, data typed into several systems. Customers could not see where their application was. Rejections were not always explained.
Meanwhile digital-first brokers were opening accounts in minutes. Press reports put India's demat accounts above 200 million by mid-2026, and the front door to that market had to be fast.
- Redesign the journey, not the form. A web form is still a form if staff check it by eye.
- Capture once, verify at source. Prefill from the bank and check PAN and KRA while the customer is still in the journey.
- Self-service and assisted on one platform, with a relationship-manager module, so there is one process and one audit trail.
- Every hand-off becomes a status that both the customer and the firm can see.
Capabilities across the two platforms
| Capability | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Digital account opening | Mobile and web journeys for resident, non-resident and partner-originated applications |
| Relationship-manager module | Assisted onboarding on web and mobile |
| Video KYC | Remote in-person verification by recorded video |
| Verification integrations | PAN and KRA services, deduplication and other third-party checks |
| eSign and payment | Electronic signature and payment gateway |
| Customer-service application | Servicing customers after onboarding |
| Scrutiny and reporting | Rejection and resubmission, status tracking, audit logs and dashboards |
Thirteen stages, each checked as it happens
| Situation | What happens now |
|---|---|
| Wrong PAN entered | Validated by API as the customer types |
| Existing customer applies again | Deduplication on PAN, mobile and email |
| Signature has changed | Latest signature retrieved from the bank or uploaded |
| KYC details wrong | Checked against the KRA |
| Document missing | Rejected with a specific remark, not a phone call |
| Customer wants status | Visible in the application |
For the customer, operations and compliance
- Customers open an account from a phone, upload instead of posting, sign electronically and see their status.
- Operations handle more applications with less checking by eye; rejections carry specific remarks.
- Compliance has system-generated logs of who changed what, and when.
- Management sees volumes and status on dashboards, and volume can grow without staff growing in step.
Both firms have kept funding new journeys, modules and integrations since 2020.
More accounts, cheaper accounts, less rework
| Measure | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Turnaround | Time from start of application to account opened |
| Digital completion rate | Applications finished without physical intervention |
| First-time-right rate | Applications that pass verification without rework |
| Drop-off rate | Customers who abandon part-way |
| Productivity | Applications processed per employee |
For every 10,000 journeys started, one percentage point more completing is 100 more accounts. In the Gulf, UAE PASS and Nafath take the place of PAN and KRA.
Questions we are asked
Which verifications are done by API?
PAN validation, KRA and other applicable KYC checks, deduplication on PAN, mobile and email, eSign, and payment through the gateway.
Can customers who prefer help still use it?
Yes. A relationship-manager module serves assisted customers on the same platform, so there is one process and one audit trail.
How long have the platforms been running?
Since 2020 at both firms, with new journeys, modules and integrations commissioned over that period.
Would this work in the UAE or Saudi Arabia?
Yes. National identity services such as UAE PASS and Nafath take the place of PAN and KRA; the journey design stays the same.
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