Solving CX Frustrations and Friction in Business Banking Onboarding

Last updated on: April 17, 2025

Onboarding a new banking product or service is the first interaction once a business has said yes to a financial institution. And yet, in our 2025 Business Banking Customer Experience Report , we uncover findings that show friction and frustration in bank onboarding processes that lead to 1 in 4 companies walking away before they use the product they signed up for!

When a business says “yes” to partnering with a bank, the onboarding process becomes the first critical impression—one that sets the tone for the entire relationship. Unfortunately, for many financial institutions, this crucial phase is marred by friction, inefficiencies and poor communication, leading to dissatisfied clients and lost opportunities.

According to the 2025 Business Banking Customer Experience Report, 1 in 4 businesses abandon the onboarding process altogether. Think about that… these businesses are so unhappy with the onboarding journey, that they disengage before using the products they signed up for a single time!

This blog explores the challenges in current onboarding experiences, shared by businesses from sole proprietors to enterprises, to figure out why businesses walk away, and the innovative solutions banks can use to mitigate these issues.

The State of Business Banking Onboarding

High Abandonment Rates

Shocking and sobering. The fact that 25% of businesses never finish onboarding is staggering. Especially when you consider how time-consuming and costly it is to acquire a customer relationship. Treasury management services and merchant services products see the highest attrition rates, with complexity being the primary culprit. It’s so challenging for treasury management clients, in particular, that 93% need customer support during onboarding!

Key reasons for Bank Product Abandonment Include:

Confusing instructions or processes ( cited by 17.5% of businesses).
Excessive handoffs— over 76% of businesses abandon onboarding if four or more representatives are involved.
Unforeseen cost surprises ( reported by 15% of businesses).
Delays in resolving issues — 41% of businesses walk away if problems aren’t solved within 24 hours.

These figures reveal that businesses are not necessarily dissatisfied with the product; they are annoyed with the process to get the product up and running. So much so that many give up.

Challenges in Providing a Solid Onboarding Process

Onboarding is like a first date. Imagine you’ve done everything right to win over a guy or girl to go out with you, but then you show up, and you’ve forgotten your wallet, your car is out of gas and you have a stain on your shirt. What you promised doesn’t match up to what is being delivered. Onboarding is the same way.

Some of the biggest obstacles businesses experience when onboarding a bank product are:

1. Fragmented Support Systems

Many banks struggle with siloed organizational structures that are meant to optimize separate operations to run efficiently, not the end-to-end journey. Therefore, during onboarding, 92% of businesses report having to repeat their information across multiple departments when trying to solve a single issue, causing unnecessary delays and irritation.

How often do you have to repeat information?

2. Confusion and Complexity in Onboarding Processes

Nearly 40% of the biggest onboarding frustrations are related to information and communication gaps. (confusing instructions, unclear process and next steps, hard to find needed information, difficulty getting updates).

That could be why 55% of businesses have to reach out 2-4+ times to get help activating or onboarding a banking product. Complicated customer journeys like business loans, merchant services and treasury management more often than not required multiple contacts to solve onboarding challenges.

3. Lack of Personalization

Only 44% of businesses strongly agree their bank understands their specific needs, reinforcing the perception that they’re being treated with a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Without personal attention or tailored onboarding journeys, it’s difficult for businesses to see long-term value with their banking partner.

4. System Limitations

Legacy systems are reliable and built for purpose, but they are not agile, and that limits innovation. They are typically disconnected from one another, so valuable customer CX information stays locked in different functional areas, a highly inefficient infrastructure that ensures banking providers only see a sliver of the full customer here and there. Add to that long-standing, outdated processes that prevent the speed, clarity and intuitiveness modern businesses expect.

Why Addressing Onboarding Friction Matters

The pain points that occur during banking product onboarding discourage businesses from completing the process and can damage a financial institution’s hard-won reputation. Customers are more than willing to walk away after one bad experience. Unfortunately, they don’t usually walk away quietly; they share their annoyance with others, making poor onboarding a competitive liability.

Streamlined, customer-centric onboarding keeps your brand promise, builds trust and loyalty and helps banks and credit unions achieve business benefits:

Higher retention rates: Fewer abandoned onboarding processes mean more opportunities to nurture long-term relationships.
Improved operational efficiency: Reducing redundancies saves time for banks and their clients.
Enhanced client satisfaction: Clear and smooth processes make businesses feel valued, fostering goodwill and loyalty.

33% of businesses cited simpler onboarding processes as one way to win more of their banking relationship.

Solutions to Improve Bank Onboarding

Banks and credit unions can eliminate onboarding pain points by focusing on customer-centricity and adopting necessary technology to provide more holistic journeys through enhanced data sharing, communication and collaboration.

Here are actionable solutions to optimize business banking onboarding.

1. Modernize and Simplify Processes

The data points to simpler, more transparent onboarding journeys as important to businesses. 33% said smoother onboarding would be one way to win over more of their business. The first step is often conducting journey mapping to visually lay out the steps in the process. That alone can be surprising, as different teams share their involvement, redundancies or unnecessary steps become obvious.

Orchestrate and automate steps: Instead of siloed workflows or manual steps, using a technology to build, adjust and even clone journeys can be a massive time saver that also ensures each step of the process is documented, achieved and when stalled, noticed. Leveraging a platform with built-in AI is table stakes today. Triggers can automate steps like sending emails or updating a file. Replace repetitive and manual tasks with automations when possible.
Provide updates: More communication and proactive updates help set proper expectations about what will happen and when, as well as share who is responsible for each step along the way. Keep businesses informed in real-time through dashboards or notifications.
Reduce complexity: Insulate customers from any back-office handoffs between internal teams, so it feels like a singular, unified experience at every step, even with external partners. Even if there is some chaos behind the scenes, you want to keep that away from the customer so they feel they are working with one team.

Orchestration platforms like OvationCXM, are being integrated as a middle layer into more bank and credit union ecosystems because they excel at building and managing the complex customer journeys that are a natural part of financial services.

2. Remove Data Silos

Our data discovered that 92% of businesses have to repeat information over and over for the same issue when they seek out customer support, and that’s directly due to data silos. Centralizing CX information and history is the only way teams will have the information needed to effectively help customers quickly.

Implement an orchestration layer: Enable all departments to access and share consistent data across teams and even from external partners that fulfill parts of a customer journey on the financial provider’s behalf.
Use cross-team and cross-organizational communication and collaboration tools: Orchestration platforms typically offer a single-screen workspace in which teams can see all of a customer’s activity across the institution but also engage with other departments through live chat for faster answers, bypassing slow phone queues and lengthy email threads.

3. Personalize Onboarding Journeys

Tailored onboarding is no longer optional—it’s expected. 38% of businesses in the Business Banking Customer Experience Report said they want proactive recommendations for other banking products.

Segment clients: Onboarding cannot be one-size-fits-all anymore. The data in this research is clear - different products and business types have unique characteristics that a uniform journey can’t fully deliver. Journey orchestration can make simple work out of customizing standard journeys so they are detailed and robust, but also personalized for customer segments or product offers.
Provide Proactive Recommendations: The power of AI insights, applied to a financial institution’s ecosystem CX data allows precise, relevant recommendations to be made at any step in a customer journey, which positions you as providing value and acting as a true partner to the business.

Personalization fosters trust early on, showing businesses that their unique goals and challenges are understood.

4. Leverage AI Technology

AI-powered tools are changing how service is delivered, and it’s also changing the expectations businesses have. 60% of businesses said they are comfortable using an AI voice or chatbot and 37% said they want more self-service options. Yes, folks… AI has to be part of your CX strategy.

Provide self-service options: Make information readily available in all of the channels customers prefer. Allow them to proactively check journey progress and act on their next steps to keep progress advancing. Provide easy access to help articles and knowledge so they can troubleshoot the most common obstacles anytime.
Use AI to boost self-service speed, capacity and hours: AI voice and chatbots provide customer support around the clock, so humans don’t have to. Ideal for handling routine inquiries, AI will continue to improve and evolve, and customers are likely to grow in their comfort if it helps them overcome friction. But with 38% still reluctant to use AI support, banks and credit unions need to use AI in tandem with human support, not as a full replacement.

5. Fix Things the First Time

Time is critical when onboarding stalls. Resolving issues as quickly as possible is imperative.

Empower employees with information: Bring information and data to your bankers, and eliminate the need to toggle between screens and systems to best serve the customer. One screen, one source of truth.
Use AI assistance : Everyone is recognizing the power of AI to suggest ways to communicate or handle tasks, and CX is no different. With centralized data on past and current customer interactions unified. ‍
Share Customer Insights: Eliminate the need for your teams to waste time searching for updates and information while customers wait. Provide all of the customer information in one place so they can respond confidently and quickly to any question.

AI can analyze and offer recommendations for responses, email content, next-best product suggestions, journey design and changes and more.

Today, less than half of all banking support contacts are solved in the first interaction. Banks that prioritize first-call resolution improve client confidence and reduce frustrations associated with delays.

Reimagine Onboarding With OvationCXM

OvationCXM’s customer-journey orchestration platform transforms fragmented and frustrating onboarding processes into seamless, engaging experiences. Our platform enables banks to unify data, integrate teams, and deliver personalized interactions at scale. By empowering banks with these tools, OvationCXM helps mitigate client churn, boost onboarding efficiency, and build long-term loyalty.

When banks demonstrate efficiency, clarity, and attentiveness during onboarding, they set the foundation for trusted and fruitful client relationships—not just onboarding success but lasting growth.

Are You Ready to Eliminate Onboarding Friction in your Banking Journeys?

Reduce abandonment rates and win client trust with smarter onboarding solutions. Discover how OvationCXM can help streamline your customer onboarding processes.