As we are in the era of instant gratification and have everything at our fingertips, we expect value from things quickly. In the same way, we desire value from the digital products we use in the quickest way possible. Users will choose your banking app over your competitors if you offer them an optimal value in the shortest possible time. That is where time to value comes into the picture—the less time to value, the better your customer engagement and relationships, and there is where user onboarding in banking comes in. 

But how can you demonstrate your product’s value and increase its stickiness? The answer is effective user onboarding in banking!

This article will focus on how banking apps can reduce time to value with great customer onboarding in banking.

What is Time To Value (TTV)?

Time to value is the time it takes for a new user to discover and derive value from your product or service.

TTV is not about how long it takes for users to sign up for your product but how quickly they reach the “aha moment” to realize how your product could benefit them and why they should spend their time or money on it.

Time to Value (TTV) = The time it takes for a new customer to realize value from your product.

For example, let’s say you discover an interesting app and install it just to see how it works. A few minutes into using the app, you do not find or derive any value that you expected. You immediately lose all the excitement and uninstall it.

This happens often, doesn’t it? This basically means the time to value the app was higher than you anticipated, which led to abandoning or deleting the app. In fact, 21% of users now abandon an app after one use.

TTV falls into two main categories

• Short or immediate time to value (SITT): It is the user-attained value from your product as soon as they use your product for the first time. In simple terms, it is reaching that aha moment and realizing your product value in the initial stage.

For example, if you just created an online banking account and want to transfer money from one account to another, you are able to complete the transaction in 5 minutes or less. 

• Long time to value (LTT): It is when a user has difficulty getting value from your product after using it for the first time. Reaching the aha moment at a later point in using your product.

Usually, banking apps have an extended time to value compared to other apps because of the complex processes involved in getting started. Many of these processes require multiple steps and involve numerous people, which can be rather frustrating for customers who want to start using their accounts as soon as possible.

Why is Time To Value important?

Time to value (TTV) is one of the most critical metrics for any product/service, as it is the first step toward making them see and understand the value of your product. 

Losing a customer is easier than gaining one, so demonstrating value in the early stage is essential as it can build trust and reduce churn. Shortening the time to value and delivering value time and again will make users stick to your product for longer, leading them to become your brand advocates.

• Reduce Churn – A better onboarding experience can prevent churn by providing users with an easy onboarding process and a great first impression of your product or service.

• Improve Retention – When users have a positive experience, they are more likely to use your product again in the future, keeping them engaged and increasing user loyalty.

• Increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – If you’re able to retain users, they become valuable as they stay longer in your product or service, helping you increase CLV over time.

How to Improve User Onboarding and Reduce Time to Value

Banks are constantly looking for ways to improve customer retention and reduce churn. The best way to do this is through onboarding experiences that help customers get immediate value from your products or services. Smarter customer onboarding experiences help reduce time to value for banking products by assisting users to achieve their goals faster.

#1 Show customers how to get started with interactive walkthroughs

One of the best ways to improve customer onboarding experiences is by using interactive walkthroughs. These walkthroughs guide customers through each step of their journey and show them how each feature works. This helps them learn faster and ensures they don’t get stuck at any stage.

Also, Include welcome screens, tutorials, and tooltips to ease their learning path!

Welcome screens: Welcome screens or splash screens introduce new users to the app. It generally contains a welcome message, sign-up, or both to get started with people immediately. 

Tutorials: Tutorials are an excellent way to illustrate how the app works. Slideshow tutorial with a series of screens and video tutorials provides users with a walkthrough of the product.  

Screen tips: Screen tips or tool tips enable users to instantly understand your app’s value proposition. It is a powerful solution for driving features and user adoption.

#2 Create a personalized experience based on User Behavior 

Keep tracking user behavior and focus on what the user expects from your product. Understand the user by gaining deeper insights into behavioral, demographical, and transactional data.

After analyzing and understanding user behavior, you can segment the users based on their behavior, such as what they are looking for, what features they are interested in, and how long they have been using it. By creating different segments based on their preferences, personalizing their experience gets easier. 

Personalization is the key to making users feel like they are being heard and they matter. This boosts their trust in your product and increases engagement rates. It also helps them get started faster by eliminating unnecessary steps or friction points. 

#3 Use Gamification for Effortless User Onboarding in Banking

Gamification is a great way to encourage users to complete their onboarding experience. The idea behind it is to reward users with points or badges as they progress through the onboarding flow.

When a user completes an action or reaches a milestone, reward them with points or badges that unlock new features. This will keep them engaged and incentivize them to keep trying new things until they reach their goal. Using gamification elements like trivia, opinion polls, mini-games, etc., in your banking application, you can make your user onboarding experience in banking more engaging and fun!

Revolut has a sign-up video that is presented like an Instagram story with a progress bar at the top to retain users in the onboarding process.

#4 Know what your customers want using Customer Satisfaction Surveys 

Conduct satisfaction surveys after the user onboarding process to collect feedback from the users. This will help you understand where you are lacking and help you craft a better user onboarding experience for the users.

Customer satisfaction surveys are one of the most effective ways to learn about your customer’s experiences with your products. By establishing a baseline for what customers think about your product, you can track the success of new features and identify pain points. There are several methods for collecting customer feedback, but asking the right questions at the right time is paramount.

Revolut starts by asking simple questions to know why users are using the app and what value they want to derive from it.

#5 Reduce friction with the help of User Analytics 

By analyzing user analytics and data, you can better understand which parts of the onboarding process are causing friction. You can drive users to their aha moments by identifying where you are lacking and removing the friction. 

Track progress and identify churn along the user journey. Understanding where users are getting stuck or confused can streamline your product and make it easier to use.

Revolut shows how users can stay on budget with their analytical tools as part of their onboarding process.

Wrapping up

User onboarding in banking is the most effective way to reduce time to value. At its core, user onboarding is about helping new users understand how to use your product and whether or not they can derive value from the product. 

If you want the users to derive value from your product as soon as they start using it, you should focus on creating a good onboarding experience that reduces churn by increasing customer retention rates and satisfaction levels.

The Upshot.ai Advantage

Upshot.ai is an omnichannel, user engagement, and gamification platform that helps digital product owners and marketers improve product adoption and conversions.

With Upshot.ai, banks, Insurance, and FinTech firms can enhance their digital experiences with pre-built gamification features. It can provide personalized insights, actionable recommendations, and contextual nudges designed to deepen its relationship with its users. 

Book a demo of the most comprehensive user engagement and gamification platform to achieve your digital product goals. Join our communities for more insights, guides, and best practices that keep you updated with proven strategies and tips to supercharge your campaigns.

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