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In 2021, digital onboarding became a core way for financial institutions to acquire and verify customers, not just a temporary substitute for branch visits. Remote identity checks, biometrics and liveness detection gained momentum, while regulators and fraud data made clear that speed had to be balanced with reliable verification, privacy and accessible alternatives.
Why digital onboarding became a lasting priority in 2021
COVID-19 restrictions accelerated a change already underway. In a December 10, 2021 consultation, the European Banking Authority (EBA) said financial institutions faced growing demand for remote customer onboarding and that movement restrictions had exacerbated it. The FDIC likewise reported that pandemic restrictions led banks to improve digital account opening through online and mobile banking.
The shift was not limited to the period when branches were harder to reach. BAI reported in 2021 that 43% of consumers were doing all their banking digitally, 24% had increased their digital use, and 84% expected to maintain that level after in-person banking resumed. These figures point to a customer expectation that institutions needed to support, rather than a channel banks could simply switch off when restrictions eased.
Which identity technologies gained ground?
Biometrics became part of the remote-onboarding toolkit, used both to verify identity and to make account access more convenient. In a 2021 survey of 220 respondents, Goode Intelligence found that 75% were using biometrics for identity verification and 73% were using them to support customer and user experience. The survey also found that 55% were already using biometric authentication.
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Liveness detection drew attention as a defense against attempts to fool biometric checks with a photo, video or other spoof. In the same survey, 55% of respondents said liveness detection was very important in combating biometric spoofing. That figure describes respondents’ assessment of importance, not the share that had deployed liveness technology. Nor do the survey results establish that biometrics had become universal or that a biometric match alone was sufficient proof of identity.
Goode Intelligence also reported that 64% of respondents were prioritising technology that supported remote onboarding. Together, these findings show the direction of investment and adoption, not a single standard configuration: institutions still had to decide which checks suited their customers, risk levels and channels.
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How should onboarding balance speed, assurance and access?
Remote onboarding is a sequence of decisions, not one verification feature. The right mix depends on the risk of the account or transaction and on whether customers can complete the proposed checks. The EBA’s December 2021 consultation emphasized sound, risk-sensitive customer due diligence, reliable remote-onboarding tools and attention to data protection.
| Approach | What it can contribute | What to account for |
|---|---|---|
| Remote document check | Collects identity information without a branch visit and can support identity proofing. | Document images may be unclear or difficult to capture; build a route for retry or human review. |
| Biometric face match | Can compare a customer’s face with an identity document and support a smooth remote flow. | A match is not, by itself, proof against spoofing or account takeover. Consider liveness and other risk signals, and offer an alternative when a customer cannot complete the check. |
| Liveness detection | Helps assess whether a biometric sample comes from a live person rather than a spoof. | It addresses a particular attack path; it does not replace customer due diligence or eliminate fraud risk. |
| Manual or assisted review | Provides a fallback for exceptions, inconclusive checks or customers unable to use automated steps. | It may take longer and require staff and case-management capacity, so set clear escalation and follow-up paths. |
These approaches work best as complementary controls. Institutions can keep routine cases straightforward while routing uncertain or higher-risk cases for additional checks. They also need to consider whether the process works on both web and mobile, whether instructions are accessible, and how verified data and exceptions reach existing customer records and review systems.
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Why compliance and fraud prevention shaped the experience
Verification is part of the customer experience because it determines what information a person must provide, what happens when a check fails and how safely the institution can open an account. A flow that is fast but unreliable can admit impersonators; a flow that is excessively demanding can block legitimate applicants. Risk-sensitive checks, dependable tools and privacy-conscious handling were therefore central design concerns, not afterthoughts.
FinCEN’s analysis published in 2024 of reports filed for calendar year 2021 illustrates the stakes in the United States. It identified approximately 1.6 million identity-related Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reports, 42% of all reports filed, representing $212 billion in suspicious activity. The five leading typologies were fraud, false records, identity theft, third-party money laundering and circumvention of verification standards. These are reports and suspicious-activity amounts, not a count of proven crimes or confirmed losses.
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FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said in January 2024 that robust customer identity processes are foundational to U.S. financial-system security and to financial institutions’ efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. For an onboarding team, the practical implication is to treat identity checks as one part of a wider control system: define when automation is enough, when a case needs review, and how to handle a customer who cannot complete the standard path.
What the market data said—and did not say
Juniper Research reported that business spending on digital identity verification was $9.4 billion in 2021 and forecast $16.7 billion in 2026, describing the change as 77% growth driven by the need to onboard users digitally during the pandemic. The 2026 figure was a forecast, not a reported outcome. The figures signal growing commercial investment in identity verification; they do not show that every institution adopted the same technology or achieved the same results.
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