Online Banking in Canada Report: Balancing Security with User Experience?

How easy is it to open and manage a bank account online in Canada? iProov’s research suggests that Canadian banks are making onboarding unnecessarily slow and complex for customers. Key opportunities to make online banking simple and secure are being missed.  In our report, iProov puts 5 of the largest Canadian banks to the test. We opened checking accounts at each bank and then carried out a number of activities to see how the balance of security vs user experience is being managed. Key findings include:

  • Opening a bank account online was not possible at 60% of the banks. Only two of the banks enabled the customer to fully complete the onboarding process online. 
  • None of the banks enabled an account to be opened via a mobile app. All of the banks provided customers with an app for mobile banking but none of the apps supported the opening of an account. 
  • It took more than a week to open an account with 80% of the banks. The fastest onboarding process in Canada took 5 days. This is in stark contrast to the U.S., where 5 days was the longest that any bank took – almost half of the American banks onboarded the customer within 30 minutes. 
  • It took an average of 19 clicks to open a bank account online in Canada. The shortest user journey required just 13 clicks from opening the website to completing the application process, while the longest took 22 clicks. 
  • Changing a PIN and requesting a new debit card required offline intervention. Only one bank enabled a new debit card to be requested online and one made it possible to change a PIN online. 
  • Resetting a forgotten password could be done online but it took effort by the customer. One bank required seven pieces of information, including employer’s name and mother’s maiden name, before the password could be reset online.

Download Online Banking in Canada: How are Canada’s Top Banks Balancing Security and User Experience for Online Customers? Find out how banks are using iProov’s face verification and biometric technology improve security and usability: iProov in Financial Services

Canada Report - Reports page