Best practices to avoid form abandonment and help increase conversions for your financial business
Digital onboarding is the first stage of establishing a relationship with a new customer, and this can be done in different ways. For financial business, there’s one element of the onboarding process which will never change, and that is the application form.
Form abandonment is high in the fintech industry. According to a study by Signicat, the percentage of European consumers who abandoned a digital banking application increased from 38% in 2019 to 63% in 2020.
There are a few reasons for online form abandonment, such as confusing language and asking for too much personal information, but the most significant is is the time it takes to complete the online application. According to this study by Built for Mars on online account opening at banks in the UK, it takes anywhere between 70 and 120 clicks to open an online account at a traditional bank.
So what can fintech businesses do to avoid form abandonment?
Keep it simple
Forms shouldn’t be any longer than they need to be. It is understandable that some forms need to be a certain length, such as an application for a mortgage, loan or insurance, but it’s essential to manage user expectations.
Reducing form fields can greatly help increase conversions. The simpler your form, the more people will be able to complete all the necessary steps. If the form is complex, users will get frustrated and most probably move on to a competitor who has optimised their onboarding process better.
Financial services must review onboarding and application forms in detail and minimise required entry fields to increase conversions, yet still collect enough information to accurately sell to clients.
Set expectations
It is important to be honest about the work required in completing onboarding or application forms. For example, fintech companies can mention an estimate of the amount of time it will take to complete the form, or display a progress indicator to show how many sections there are to complete, what information is required in each section, and the current position of the user.
Optimise for mobile
Mobile phones have become the primary browsing devices for online consumers. Fintech companies are developing applications for their services, but very few have a comprehensive mobile strategy established. It’s essential to have a mobile-specific site and features that are user friendly, clear and readable.
The key requirements to optimise forms for mobile devices are:
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Large fields to make it easy to tap where you want to type
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Large CTA buttons so it’s easy to continue
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The form works if you swap to landscape orientation
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It’s clear which fields are required and which are optional
Read our Postcode Lookup vs Address Finder guide to examine the best solution for mobile apps.
Address Validation can improve user experience and increase conversions
To improve the efficiency of fintech online forms, it’s important to simplify the experience. Address validation is an easy way to do this. Address validation for fintech finds and validates accurate addresses on a form, which also reduces the number of fields and keystrokes required by the user.
In certain fintech forms, users must provide several years of previous address history which can be daunting. Address finder makes this process simpler by speeding up entry and allowing the user to find the address with only partial details.
The key to avoiding form abandonment and increasing conversions is to make data entry as easy as possible.