WHAT IF YOUR CUSTOMERS COULD OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT MORE EASILY?

Banking & Finance

What if your customers could open a bank account more easily?

Insights — Galaxy Conseils  ·  4 min read

Tuesday morning, 10am. Aïcha walks into a bank branch. She just landed a new job, and her employer needs an account to pay her salary into. She figures it'll be quick.

At the counter, she's handed a list of documents to provide: proof of ID, proof of address, employment certificate, photos... She's brought some of them. She leaves and comes back the next day with the rest.

The advisor photocopies, staples, and files everything into a tray. "We'll call you as soon as it's approved."

A week goes by. Then a second one. Aïcha calls the branch, and no one really knows where her file stands. Maybe it's waiting on a signature. Maybe a document is missing. Maybe it even ended up with the wrong department.

Meanwhile, a friend tells her about another bank, "where everything moved really fast." Aïcha doesn't have her account yet, but she's already thinking about leaving.

What this story really shows

Many banks know this scene well. And the most striking part is that no one made a mistake: the advisor was courteous, the manager will approve the file as soon as they see it, and the compliance team is doing its job.

The problem is the journey itself.

A traditional account opening relies on a chain of manual steps: collecting documents, checking them, getting them approved, then opening the account. Each step assumes a paper file passes from one hand to another. And that's exactly where things get complicated:

• —Documents arrive incomplete, and it's noticed too late.
• —Files sit waiting on a desk, because a manager is out or overloaded.
• —No one can see the progress: not the customer, not the advisor, not management.
• —Compliance becomes a source of stress, because you need to be able to prove, during an audit, that every document was properly checked.

For the customer, it all comes down to one impression: it's slow, and it's complicated.

The first contact is the whole relationship

It's easy to forget, but opening an account is the very first moment of the relationship between a bank and its customer. It's where they form an idea of how they'll be treated for years to come.

A smooth journey tells the customer: "Here, we respect your time." A clunky one tells them the opposite, before they've even made their first transaction.

In an industry where customers compare more and more, simplicity is no longer a bonus. It's a competitive advantage.

The same morning, done differently

Let's replay Aïcha's story, this time at a bank using M-Files.

1. 1Collecting documents. The advisor scans Aïcha's documents directly from a tablet. Each document is automatically attached to her client file, with the right details: document type, date, client name.
2. 2Verification. The system immediately flags what's complete and what's missing. If a document is missing, Aïcha knows before leaving the branch, not a week later.
3. 3Approval. The complete file is automatically routed to the person responsible for approving it. They get a notification, review the documents, and approve — from their desk or their phone if they're traveling. Every action is logged: who approved it, and when.
4. 4Account opened. Aïcha gets the confirmation. The file is securely archived, ready to be presented during a review.

Four smooth steps, with no file lost along the way and no calls needed to check where the request stands.

What this actually changes for the bank

Why M-Files is different

Most tools classify documents by where they're stored, in a folder or subfolder. M-Files classifies them by what they are: a proof of ID, a supporting document, a contract, all attached to a specific client.

This approach changes everything. A document is never "somewhere" again: it's linked to its client, its file, and its stage in the process. You find it in seconds, in the right version, with the full history of everything that's been done.

And what applies to account opening also applies to credit applications, updating client files, or handling complaints. Every document-driven process at a bank can benefit.

What about your bank?

Ask yourself a simple question: how long does it take today, at your institution, between the moment a customer hands over their documents and the moment their account is opened?

If the answer makes you uneasy, it's probably the right time to rethink your process.

Galaxy Conseils is here to help

At Galaxy Conseils, we help banks and financial institutions simplify their customer journeys with M-Files. We don't impose a standard template — we start from your actual processes.