Digital account opening became table stakes for banks during the pandemic. In late 2020, First Premier Bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, relaunched its own version. At the same time, it considered how it could do two things: assign credit to bankers for new accounts opened electronically and encourage people to stick around a busy branch and open an account electronically — even when they originally planned to open one in person.
The topic of who gets credit for accounts opened digitally is debated by many banks as the percentage of digitally opened accounts continues to grow, said Emmett Higdon, director of digital banking at Javelin Strategy & Research. It can cause tension between digital and branch teams, if branch bankers regard digital account opening as competition to the relationships they forge in person.
Read more at American Banker here.
