Onboarding specialist Appway has launched a new ‘conversational solution’ to the problems that private banks face when taking on new customers.

The Zurich-headquartered firm, which is prominent in developing onboarding software for private banks and other firms, says that its latest offering allows clients to open account with the guidance of a ‘chatbot.’

Onboarding is a significant challenge for the world’s wealth management industry. According to various sources in the financial services industry, it takes an average of two months for a client to acquire a private bank account because of the various ‘know your customer’ questions that he must answer to clear himself of the charge of carrying “money-laundering risk.” 

The company announced the existence of its new product at its annual conference for clients and partners in Zurich; more than 400 financiers attended.

With the upcoming release of Appway 7, the firm announced that financial firms will be able to offer onboarding processes through outside channels, including messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp, “without extending existing business logic.”

Hans Peter Wolf, the firm’s chief executive, told reporters last week: “We see conversational interfaces as a natural evolution of self-service offerings in the financial services. Customers have shown that they want a simplified service on channels that they frequently use. Not only will financial firms be able to engage with customers where they already are, these advancements also open the door for firms to offer onboarding via channels that will exist in the future.”