Digital lenders can save 70% of KYC costs and improve speed by 80% in order seize on $150 billion in annual origination across the Eurozone
Opportunity is ripe for digital lenders to grow – if they invest in digitisation. We recently partnered with research house Autonomous to produce a whitepaper looking into the state of the digital lending market in Europe. “European digital lenders: How operating efficiency is helping digital lenders attack a $150 billion annual origination market across the Eurozone in 2018” found that digital lenders must become more efficient and automated in order to compete. In fact, the paper found that digital identity verification technology could be the secret weapon for differentiation and boost competitiveness, ensuring regulatory compliance, improving speed, and reducing the cost of customer onboarding.
Harness lower operating costs to offer a real alternative to traditional banking providers
The research found onboarding times to have drastically reduced due to digitisation, from six weeks to a matter of minutes, but acquisition costs can be up to $300 per customer, with KYC and AML checks costing as much as $150 per customer on top. The cost of capital is preventing digital lenders from truly competing with incumbent banks, so lowering operating costs will work to lenders’ advantage. Where digital lenders must also play catch up is with security – and digital identity verification has the potential to be the tool to make this happen.
When fintechs and digital lenders ward off inefficiency and provide the most intuitive yet secure customer experience, they poise themselves to gain the competitive edge they need to snatch market share away from traditional lenders.