While more than half of successful applications for most financial institution products involve online and mobile channels at some point, few applicants complete the process solely in those channels, according to the Javelin report “Digital Account Opening Fails to Deliver a Single-Channel Experience.”

The risk of abandonment increases each time applicants must switch channels, Javelin reports.

How to overcome this obstacle?

Fiserv offers four key principles from the consumer point of view that can create a seamless digital experience.

Consumers say they want financial institutions to:

1. Make it about me. Interact in plain language and provide products and services that fit into my life and allow me to pick up where I left off no matter what device I’m on or where I am.

2. Give me confidence. Guard my information and let me know you’re doing so. Let’s not have any surprises. Provide me with information when I need it and tell me why when you ask me for information.

3. Get me through this quickly. Ask me only for what’s necessary, respond quickly, help me avoid mistakes, and help me fix mistakes if I make them.

4. Do the work for me. Make the process easy. Let me scan my information and let me use intelligent autocomplete.

“Following those principles is the surest way to differentiate yourself in a tightening marketplace, particularly as it relates to those cornerstone offerings and moments,” says Jeff Sonderman, director, product management, for Fiserv. “If applied at the right moments along the consumer journey, revenue and growth are bound to follow.”