AI’s impact on banking, part 1: Using AI to transform customer onboarding

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to drive major transformation across industries, including banking, at a rapid pace. CGI’s 2025 Voice of Our Clients research reveals a higher percentage of bank executives are implementing GenAI, holistic AI strategies and holistic enterprise data strategies to achieve their top cited business priorities, including driving sustainable growth, managing risk and compliance, and enhancing the customer experience through digitization and personalization.

In this three-part blog series, I’ll share insights on three AI use cases, in particular, that can and are driving significant outcomes in banking—onboarding, personalization and resiliency. Let’s begin with onboarding.

Onboarding challenges

The onboarding process often is a significant pain point for banks, affecting the customer experience, operations and the bottom line.

For the customer, time-consuming forms, repetitive data entry, unclear communication and delayed approvals lead to frustration, creating negative first impressions that may drive them to competitors. In this digital era, customers expect same-day account activation for basic products, seamless digital onboarding (with minimal paperwork and instant verification), and real-time updates on their application status.

When onboarding is smooth, it builds trust and confidence. If it’s inconvenient, customers may question the bank’s overall capabilities.

For the bank, onboarding is challenging to personalize, and data fragmentation prevents a unified customer view. Further, there are numerous regulatory compliance issues. These challenges require solutions because ineffective onboarding can lead to customer attrition, high costs, and lost or delayed revenue.

Why AI-driven onboarding matters

By strategically applying AI, banks can transform onboarding from a burdensome necessity into a powerful competitive advantage. Three key outcomes of AI-driven onboarding include:

• Revenue acceleration: AI streamlines data collection and verification through optical character recognition (OCR), biometrics and natural language processing (NLP), significantly reducing onboarding timelines and accelerating revenue realization.
• Enhanced customer loyalty: Simplified and frictionless onboarding experiences create positive first impressions, building lasting customer relationships.
• Market differentiation: A seamless, personalized onboarding journey enhances customer satisfaction and clearly differentiates your institution from competitors. Intelligent algorithms and AI-powered chatbots proactively suggest tailored services, making onboarding both personalized and user-friendly.

How AI impacts onboarding processes

How can AI transform onboarding? Here are just a few ways:

• Automating data collection and verification: AI technologies such as OCR and biometrics provide instant, accurate verification, reducing manual intervention and human errors.
• Identifying patterns and preventing fraud: Machine learning algorithms flag anomalies and predict suspicious activities, safeguarding assets without compromising user convenience.
• Reducing human errors and increasing compliance: Automated compliance monitoring ensures adherence to evolving regulatory standards, significantly reducing false positives and regulatory risks.
• Personalizing the onboarding journey: AI-driven assistance, such as chatbots, guide customers through onboarding, aligning product recommendations with individual customer needs.

Through these capabilities, banks can increase customer retention, achieve faster time to value, enhance cross-selling and up-selling, and reduce operational costs.

Next steps for banks

For banks wanting to enhance their onboarding through AI, we recommend the following steps:

• Digital onboarding: Prioritize implementing end-to-end digital onboarding platforms.
• High-impact AI solutions: Focus first on high-impact AI applications tailored to your immediate operational challenges.
• Humans in the loop: Maintain human oversight, ensuring that AI complements and enhances human capabilities.
• Responsible AI: Invest in robust data governance and management systems to support effective AI implementations, minimize risks, and ensure the responsible use of AI.
• Customer feedback: Regularly gather customer feedback, continually refining AI strategies to optimize onboarding experiences.

CGI collaborates with banks across the globe to overcome onboarding challenges and unlock growth opportunities. Through proven methodologies, empathetic engagement and straightforward solutions, we help them confidently and responsibly adopt AI to transform onboarding and deliver expected outcomes.

Contact me to discuss how your institution can leverage AI to achieve faster, smarter and more resilient onboarding processes. Also, stay tuned for the next blog in this series on using AI to drive a more personalized customer experience.