In this latest interview by InfoTrack, Sam Jordan, COO from InfoTrack, is joined by David Opie, Managing Director of Today’s Media, and Nathan Kapoor, Managing Partner at Charles Coleman Solicitors.
Together, they have explored how to identify the processes to keep and how to ensure the successful adoption of your new digital approach. This new way has been implemented to make the beginning of the process, known as the “conveyancers nightmare”, easier and more efficient.
Both Sam and Nathan have stated that, for them, it’s about the “client experience” and making sure you get all of the information. Sam said:
“If we are thinking about the technical blockers and that digital experience, then the key thing there is making it as intuitive as possible. Our goal is to minimise interactions and then we know we are doing it properly. It should be an intuitive experience.
“But there are certain things in good practice in software – telling people what they need to do, talking them through step by step, reassuring them that they have done what need to do. We get a lot of calls from people who have done everything but they want to ring and check that it all went OK.
“You have to reassure and make it intuitive”
Nathan stated that digital onboarding is used to make everyone’s lives easier. For him, it’s that “extra layer of protection” during the process. From identifying a legitimate passport to conducting AML checks. He said:
“You are able to get more work done and do other things you couldn’t previously do.
“We are finally at a stage where we will have an app and it makes our lives easier as it’s getting harder for us to get work done with the pressures. It’s about having that comfort of knowing. It is also about improving efficiency and productivity and allowing clients to be as stress-free as possible.”
The ongoing worry during the evolution of technology is that it will replace humans’ jobs. However, Sam stated that it does not mean that it will do this, instead, it will “help them do it a lot better than before” and “make their lives easier”.
When asked “how do we move towards that digital process”, Sam said:
“I think digital ID checks are most people’s gateway to digital onboarding but it’s not that. For us, we have the four things from forms for the information gathering, ID checks, AML checks, source of funds, and source of wealth. Those are the sorts of things we see completed as part of the process.
We want a solution that does all of the things and you have to have a sensible approach and get everyone on board.”
Despite this, Nathan stated that you can’t solely rely on onboarding, saying:
“We still like to spend time with clients to understand more and work with them to make sure they have everything needed to avoid delays. We are there to make sure that all the information is as accurate as it possibly can be.
If it’s all done properly, it will speed up transactions.”
Digital onboarding has quickly been adopted by firms since 2020, with many now offering a digital-first approach that meets client expectations and makes managing compliance and risk management easier.
