Account Opening Redesign
Redesign of the account opening experience
Zenith Bank operates multiple digital account opening channels designed to cater to different customer segments and account atypes. The bank has established dedicated online portals including a general online account opening platform and an instant account opening service, demonstrating their commitment to digital customer acquisition.
Client
Zenith Bank
Services
Visual Design UI & UX Design
Industries
Banking
Date
2024
Status
Launched
Challenges
Identity Fraud & Fake Account Creation: As online account openings increased, so did cases of identity fraud and fake registrations. Traditional ID uploads couldn’t verify if applicants were real or present, leading to compliance risks and financial losses.
Transparency & Consent: Data protection laws like NDPR and GDPR require businesses to get clear consent from users before collecting or storing their personal information.
Redundant Visuals & Experience: The platform’s outdated visuals and inconsistent interface weakened user trust and engagement, making the experience feel less reliable and modern compared to competitors.
Solution
The goal was to create a simple, transparent, and trustworthy account opening experience. The redesign focused on helping users complete their applications with ease by making requirements clear upfront, reducing unnecessary steps, and improving feedback at every stage. Ultimately, the aim was to increase completion rates while strengthening user confidence in the bank’s digital services.
Design Process
Discovery Phase
Market Research: Explored how people open accounts across different banks to understand what makes the process easy or frustrating. By studying competitor experiences and user feedback, we uncovered key pain points — like unclear requirements and long verification steps — and identified ways to make onboarding simpler, faster, and more reassuring for users.
Stakeholder Interviews: Sat down with diverse stakeholders to understand each parties vision and expectations.
Design & Prototyping
UI/UX Design: The design focused on simplifying the account opening journey through clear flows, upfront account requirements, and the introduction of a liveness check option.
Testing and Iteration
User Testing: Prototypes were tested and refined to ensure a smooth, guided experience.
The redesign significantly improved the overall onboarding experience — decreasing drop-offs within the flow by 25%, reducing fraudulent account openings by 75%, and driving higher adoption of the bank’s digital account opening channels.
