Top KYC Challenges in BFSI and How DigiEKYC Solves Them

Illustration of digital KYC process showing person verifying identity on a laptop with icons representing financial services, ID verification, and security.
About DigiEKYC
DigiEKYC is a cloud-based KYC and digital onboarding platform designed for fintechs, NBFCs, and BFSI businesses. Developed by Tech Anand Rathi, the platform simplifies identity verification, speeds onboarding, and ensures end-to-end compliance through automation, integration, and analytics.

Verifying customer identity remains a critical part of regulatory compliance and customer lifecycle management in the financial services sector. For fintech organisations, it also determines how efficiently new users are onboarded, how quickly operations scale, and how consistently internal policies are followed. While digital tools have improved parts of the process, several businesses across BFSI (Business, Financial Services and Insurance) continue to face delays, inconsistencies, and compliance challenges that affect day-to-day performance. 

A 2023 PwC India report noted that over 55% of financial institutions identify onboarding delays and a lack of KYC (Know Your Customer) process standardisation as key operational concerns. These issues often lead to longer turnaround times, incomplete records, and higher support costs. In response to these ongoing challenges, there is now a growing need for platforms that can simplify the KYC journey without compromising regulatory expectations. 

DigiEKYC is one such platform.

This post examines the key challenges fintechs encounter in KYC and customer onboarding, and explains how a digital platform like DigiEKYC helps streamline these processes through a digital-first approach.

Exploring KYC Automation Options for Your Organisation?

Let our team walk you through DigiEKYC and answer any questions relevant to your use case.

Call Us Now

Common KYC Pain Points in BFSI Workflows 

Customer onboarding is often the first point of contact between a user and a financial product. When this process lacks clarity or consistency, it can lead to drop-offs, delays, and avoidable compliance risks. While most organisations in the BFSI sector aim to balance regulatory obligations with user convenience, several gaps in execution continue to affect operational performance and service quality. 

A 2023 Deloitte study found that nearly 40% of onboarding processes in the financial services industry are abandoned due to friction in KYC workflows.

Common KYC challenges in BFSI workflows include:

1. Delayed or Inconsistent Identity Verification
Often caused by disconnected systems and manual checkpoints.
2. Repetitive Document Requests
Makes the process more time-consuming for customers,  reducing KYC completion rates.
3. Errors in Manual Review Processes
Particularly when handling large onboarding volumes.
4. Unclear Workflows
Especially when regulatory requirements or customer profiles change.
5. Limited Real-time Visibility
Restricts the ability to track progress or resolve delays efficiently.
6. High Compliance Costs
Maintaining compliance becomes costly when dependent on outdated/legacy systems.
7. Misalignment between internal teams
Results in duplicated efforts and inconsistent data handling.
8. Data Security Vulnerabilities
Increase the risk of exposing or mishandling sensitive customer information during the KYC process.

As financial institutions expand across customer segments and product lines, these challenges tend to multiply. Addressing them requires a structured, technology-led approach that simplifies coordination, ensures compliance, and improves the overall onboarding experience, both for internal teams and end users.

How DigiEKYC Tackles Every Major Pain Point in BFSI

The operational challenges occurring during KYC and onboarding in the BFSI sector often result from fragmented processes, limited coordination, and disconnected systems in practice. These inefficiencies not only delay onboarding but also increase customer onboarding costs and expose banks and financial institutions to compliance risks. 

DigiEKYC helps bridge these gaps by consolidating critical KYC functions into a single, integrated platform. Rather than relying on multiple tools or manual handoffs, teams can manage identity verification, document processing, regulatory compliance checks, and audit readiness from a single interface. 

The table below outlines how the platform resolves specific bottlenecks commonly observed across BFSI institutions:

                                      Common KYC Pain Points and How DigiEKYC Solves Them
Sr No. KYC Challenge How DigiEKYC Responds
1 Inaccurate or forged identity submissions AI OCR, facial match, and liveness detection ensure genuine documents and selfies.
2 Time-consuming document verification Automated extraction and validation of PAN, Aadhaar, CKYC, and DigiLocker.
3 Incomplete or unverifiable bank details Penny drop and reverse penny drop methods validate accounts in real time.
4 Fragmented financial data collection Account Aggregator integration enables secure retrieval of verified bank data without manual uploads.
5 Weak user authentication and consent logging Geo-location tracking, Gmail login, and digital signatures establish strong identity and consent trails.
6 High onboarding drop-offs due to complex flows Single-OTP onboarding and intuitive UI reduce friction and increase completion rates.
7 Unresolved edge cases requiring manual intervention Manual Verifier Dashboard enables oversight, exception handling, and final approvals.
8 Inability to adapt to evolving fraud tactics AI and biometric verification continuously evolve to detect spoofing, deepfakes, and suspicious patterns.
9 Gaps in audit preparedness Timestamped logs and centralised case histories ensure audit readiness.

How DigiEKYC Helps BFSI Firms Manage End-to-End KYC and Onboarding Lifecycle 

DigiEKYC helps banks, insurance providers, NBFCs, and other financial institutions manage the entire Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This includes customer onboarding, identity verification, periodic reviews, and regulatory compliance checks. The platform enables seamless coordination across teams, promotes process consistency, and supports compliance with guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) throughout the customer lifecycle. 

DigiEKYC offers capabilities that allow organisations to monitor, update, and govern customer identity records at every stage of the relationship, ensuring both operational efficiency and regulatory alignment. 

KYC Roadmap for BFSI with DigieKYC

1
Lead Capture & Consent
Collect leads from apps, CRM, or partners.
Early AML screening and digital consent with geo-tag, Gmail, and e-signature.
2
ID & Document Check
Auto-verify PAN, Aadhaar, CKYC, DigiLocker.
AI OCR extracts data; face match and liveness confirm identity.
3
Bank Account Verification
Penny drop and Account Aggregator ensure real-time account ownership and fetch verified statements.
4
Mobile-First Onboarding
One OTP flow, no app needed.
Multi-language support and a fast, user-friendly experience.
5
Review & Decisioning
Automated rules for approvals/rejections.
Dashboard for manual review of flagged cases.
6
KYC Maintenance
Alerts for expiring docs, periodic refresh by risk, always up-to-date with no manual follow-up.
7
Reporting & Audit
Live dashboards, downloadable reports, and complete audit trails for compliance.

DigiEKYC helps BFSI organisations improve productivity and reduce onboarding delays by turning KYC into a streamlined, system-led process. It eliminates repetitive manual steps, improves data accuracy at each stage, and ensures that customer information is verified and captured without delay. By reducing dependence on multiple tools and enabling real-time record handling, DigiEKYC allows teams to process more applications in less time, while keeping necessary compliance checks integrated within the workflow.

Reasons BFSI Leaders Choose DigiEKYC for KYC Process Modernisation

An effective onboarding process is not defined by speed alone; it must also deliver accuracy, compliance, consistency, and the ability to scale. DigiEKYC addresses these expectations through an integrated, automation-driven framework that reduces manual effort while enhancing process reliability. As a result, BFSI institutions leveraging DigiEKYC have seen measurable improvements across critical operational touchpoints.

Here is why BFSI organisations find DigiEKYC a worthy platform to manage end-to-end KYC and onboarding workflow:  

1. Features Make DigiEKYC a Strong Fit for BFSI Use Cases

The feature suite embedded within DigiEKYC helps financial institutions move from fragmented, manual KYC processes to a scalable, policy-compliant onboarding infrastructure that works across product lines, customer segments, and geographic boundaries.

DigiEKYC Feature Suite

1. Support for CKYC, PAN, Aadhaar, and Digilocker
These integrations reduce reliance on paper-based documentation, speed up identity verification, and enable regulatory alignment with digital public infrastructure.
2. Cloud-native deployment with data residency compliance
This ensures faster rollouts, easier maintenance, and adherence to local data handling norms, without increasing the burden on internal IT resources.
3. Access Across Devices and Channels
Institutions can serve customers across locations and contexts, urban or remote, through a unified platform that supports both assisted and self-service journeys.
4. Modular APIs for system interoperability
The platform integrates easily with existing CRMs, LOS, and internal systems via configurable APIs, allowing staged adoption without disrupting ongoing operations.
5. Multilingual and Localised Interfaces
Support for regional languages improves completion rates in tier-2 and tier-3 markets by reducing friction in communication and improving usability.
6. Biometrics, Video KYC with Analytics
Built-in support for face match, liveness detection, video KYC, and risk scoring enhances security and compliance while maintaining speed and accuracy.

These figures reflect more than just operational efficiency, and they point to a structural shift in how BFSI firms manage compliance-heavy processes. By eliminating the need for ad-hoc adjustments and reducing system dependencies, DigiEKYC allows onboarding and compliance teams to focus on service quality, customer satisfaction, and process expansion.

2. Organisations Experience High Productivity Gains After Deploying DigiEKYC

Organisations in the BFSI sector have observed improved process efficiency after implementing DigiEKYC. By streamlining identity verification, reducing manual intervention, and improving data consistency, the platform enables teams to handle higher volumes with greater speed and accuracy. These gains not only enhance operational efficiency but also support better alignment across compliance, technology, and customer service functions.

Performance Outcomes After DigiEKYC Adoption

1. 99% More Efficient Onboarding
Onboarding time reduced by over 99% through faster ID validation, real-time OTP checks, and direct system integration.
2. Verification Errors Reduced by 50%
Advanced document scanning and face detection to reduce errors by almost half, with more accurate verification
3. 35% Increase in Onboarding Rates
DigiEKYC boosts onboarding completion rates through mobile access, local language support and simplified onboarding.
4. Audit Issues Reduced by Up to 40%
Centralised tracking and automatic audit logs help reduce manual errors and simplify every step of the audit process.
5. Manual Effort Reduced by Up to 60%
Automation of fraud checks, location tracking, and alerts lowers manual workload and allows teams to focus better.
6. 45% Better Compliance and Regulation
Customizable workflows support RBI, SEBI, and FATF guidelines, helping businesses maintain consistent regulatory alignment.

These outcomes testify to how DigiEKYC helps financial institutions improve key onboarding and verification processes. By reducing effort, error, and turnaround time while maintaining compliance and audit readiness, the platform supports more consistent, efficient, and scalable customer onboarding across business lines.

DigiEKYC — A Platform You Can Rely On for KYC and Onboarding 

KYC is no longer just a compliance requirement or a back-office task. It plays a direct role in shaping customer experience, operational consistency, and long-term trust.  DigiEKYC offers a structured and reliable approach to address the pain points of modern KYC and onboarding workflows.

DigiEKYC offers a dependable and future-ready approach to managing digital KYC and customer onboarding. Designed for real operational challenges, it helps BFSI institutions streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve consistency across the customer journey.

By combining accuracy, speed, and structured control in a single platform, DigiEKYC delivers both immediate productivity gains and long-term efficiency. It’s a practical investment for organisations looking to simplify compliance without compromising performance.

KYC and Onboarding Made Simpler, Safer, and Smarter with DigiEKYC

Request a walkthrough and see how your team can save time, reduce costs, and maintain full regulatory control. 

Call us now