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Lender KBC says it is embracing innovative technology and partnering with skilled fintechs in order to compete in the financial services landscape.

Head of Current Accounts Petrina Grady demonstrated their “game-changing” digital account opening experience on the TechX stage of the Dublin Tech Summit.

In the ‘Building digital services that transform customer experience’ presentation, with Innovation Delivery Manager Ryan Leitch, Ms Grady spoke about how there is a gap between a digital service that is easy to use and one that accomplishes little.

Part of the difficulty faced in ease of online account opening is adhering to money-laundering regulations but KBC aims to make it much simpler for the customer, she says.

“The customers take a picture of their drivers’ licence and they take a selfie. We’re using APIs (software) to do a check to make sure the licence is authentic – and then we use biometrics to check that the person in the selfie is you. So you don’t have to send us in your bill or anything, that’s all the boxes ticked,” she said.

“The bit that’s really different for us is that you then instantly get your digital debit card into your wallet, and can put it into your Google Pay or your Apple Pay straight away. We put a fiver into the account for you so it means you can actually make a purchase from your account immediately too.

“We’re in a very collaborative space. You have to partner with other fintechs out there. If you try to do it on your own it would take too long, you’d be left behind, you’d have missed the boat.”
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