What Impacts the Account Opening Process and Engagement for Consumers? Trends and Statistics

The account opening process can make or break a financial provider’s ability to attract and retain new customers. If opening an account is too cumbersome, convoluted, or complicated, consumers will likely abandon the process or worse, not even make an attempt. 

Below is a round-up of consumer data and statistics related to account openings, as well as what makes consumers want to open a new account, from MX’s collection of consumer research reports. 

In this post, you’ll find stats related to: 

• The Account Opening Process
• Instant Account Verifications vs. Microdeposits
• How Often Consumers Open New Accounts
• Factors That Affect Consumer Engagement
• Why the First 30 Days After Account Opening Matter

The Account Opening Process

• 48% of consumers who experienced digital friction took their business to another bank. (Account Opening Use Case)

• Customer abandonment rates can exceed 50% if digital account opening takes more than three to five minutes. (Account Opening Use Case)

• 68% of consumers abandoned their online applications for financial services. (Account Opening Use Case)

• By streamlining the account opening process, Apiture clients have seen a significant increase in account openings and as a result, deposits. One institution increased its client deposits by 121% within the first four months since rolling out Apiture’s digital account opening solution. (Streamlining Account Openings, MX + Apiture)

Instant Account Verifications vs. Microdeposits

• Onboarding drop-off rate using micro-deposits is as high as 49% while the onboarding drop-off rate for instant account verification (IAV) is as low as 1%. (Account Opening Use Case)

• New account fraud increased 109% in 2021 according to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2022 ID Fraud Study. (How Open Finance Improves Security, 2023)

• With Instant Account Verification (IAV) and identity verification technologies, organizations can verify accounts in less than 5 seconds using direct OAuth connections that eliminate the reliance on microdeposits to verify an account. (How Open Finance Improves Security, 2023)

How Often Consumers Open New Accounts

• More than half of respondents have either opened a new bank account (23%) or considered switching to a new bank (28%) in the past 6 months. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

• In the past 6 months, 33% of Gen X respondents opened a new bank account, followed by Millennials (27%) and Gen Z (21%). When asked which statements best describe their experience with banks in the past six months, respondents shared (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023):

• Nearly 1 in 4 consumers (23%) are opening new financial accounts at least once per year or more often. Among Gen Z, this jumps to 36% of respondents opening new accounts at least once per year. (How to Keep Consumers from Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

• 6% of U.S. consumers said the primary reason for keeping their oldest account is because it’s too much hassle to switch. (How to Keep Consumers from Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

Factors That Affect Consumer Engagement

• When asked which factors are important when it comes to their experience with financial providers, consumers continue to rank security as No. 1 most often (30%), followed closely by trust (25%). (How to Keep Consumers from Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

• More than half (58%) of consumers ranked the level of trust they feel as one of the most important factors in selecting a provider, followed by how securely they protect their personal financial data (53%). (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

• 35% of respondents say the top factor in determining where they choose to deposit their money is if a provider is trusted to keep their information and money safe.  (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

• When asked if they would seek a new financial provider if their current provider couldn’t deliver on their most wanted features, 54% said it was likely they would do so. And, 60% of Gen Z and 63% of Millennials said they would do so. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023)

• When asked what they would do if their preferred bank or credit union did not support connecting to their favorite fintech apps, 72% said they would seek out a different bank or credit union that could connect. This was even higher for Millennials and Gen X respondents at 75%. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022)

Why the First 30 Days After Account Opening Matter

• Consumers who connect at least one or more external financial accounts are 48% more likely to be digitally active a year later than those who don’t. (How to Build Long-Term Digital Engagement, 2024)

• Consumers who establish a direct deposit with a new financial account in the first 30 days are 76% more likely to be digitally engaged a year later than those without direct deposit. (How to Build Long-Term Digital Engagement, 2024)

• Consumers who log in at least once during their first month are 26% more likely to be digitally engaged after a year. Those who log in on at least four separate days during their first month are 550% more likely to still be active a year later. (How to Build Long-Term Digital Engagement, 2024)

• Consumers who make at least one mobile transfer during their first month are 195% more likely to be digitally engaged a year later than those who don’t. (How to Build Long-Term Digital Engagement, 2024)

• Consumers who interact with PFM tools at least one day during their first month are 176% more likely to be digitally engaged after one year than those who don’t. (How to Build Long-Term Digital Engagement, 2024)