According to industry research, 73% of all people point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions. Moreover, customers in the financial services industry are increasingly interested in using their go-to firm to cover more of their needs, rather than using multiple providers. To meet the needs of their customers, banks are creating a plethora of new products and services.

About the Deposit Advance Product

This blog post will highlight a project I worked on for a large bank in North America. The company wanted to create a deposit advance product, which is a short-term loan designed to assist customers in times of immediate need. Deposit advance is a unique product; unlike traditional loans, it does not require a credit check, and no interest is charged.

They do, however, have specific eligibility criteria. In order to be granted a deposit advance, a customer must have at least a 90-day relationship with the bank, as the loan amount will be calculated based on the checking account deposits that occurred during the 90 days prior to the date the loan is being requested. For example, if the customer deposited $1,000 in January, $1,000 in February, and another $1,000 in March, they would be qualified to receive up to a $1,500 loan in April.

A deposit advance loan, as well as a fee totaling 5% of the total loan amount, must be paid back within 90 days, through three equal payments. If the customer pays back the full loan amount in the first 30 days (on or before the first due date), the 5% fee will be waived.

The Qualification and Application Process

Any pre-qualified customer who logs into their online banking account will get a pop-up banner offer to learn more about the deposit advance product. If they are interested, they will click on “learn more” to view additional details about the product and its benefits.  If the customer wishes to proceed, the customer will click on “apply now.”

As an example, a customer who clicks on “apply now” will be directed to a bank-branded site that might be powered by a platform such as Fiserv, which helps to provide a more seamless customer experience. Next, the application will prompt the customer to grant consent to sign electronically. After consent is granted, the customer will be directed to fill out an application (some fields will be pre-filled to speed up the process, like name, address, phone number, and checking account). If the customer has multiple checking accounts, a choice of drop-down menu with all eligible accounts will be displayed. After confirming the account into which the loan is to be deposited, the customer is to enter their desired loan amount. They will then be prompted to review the inputted details and hit “submit.”  The decision engine will then display the decision, and if the customer qualifies for the amount they request, they will be directed to sign a consent to commit to the loan.  If they do not qualify for the amount they request, a pop-up will show the maximum amount they do qualify for. If the customer agrees to take the loan for this approved amount, they will be directed to sign a consent to commit to the loan.  Once consents are signed, the customer will be able to review their three payment dates. The loan will then be deposited into their checking account (usually on that very same day).

The deposit advance product is meant to be highly accessible and an opportunity for the bank to assist customers who need a little extra help, ultimately boosting the customer experience.

Whether you want to build this type of product from scratch, expand your current product’s capabilities, or create an entirely new product or service line to support your customers, Perficient has the domain expertise you can count on. Many of the world’s largest banks trust us with their most innovative, highly visible, and resource-intensive projects.