Have you ever found yourself frustrated during a lengthy or complicated sign-up process? Well, imagine if your new customers, patients, or employees experienced the same when you onboard them. Sticking to manual methods not only wastes valuable time and money but also risks leaving those you’re dealing with feeling annoyed.
For instance, a 2023 Digital Onboarding Report by ebankIT reveals that 90% of financial institutions report customer abandonment during onboarding, resulting in lost business potential worth millions of dollars.
The key here is to leverage onboarding automation. Why? It helps streamline and speed up onboarding processes for higher retention rates while ensuring regulatory compliance. Curious to learn more? Then you’re in the right place!
In this blog, you will learn what onboarding automation is, why it benefits your business, and how it works. Let’s dive in!
What is Onboarding Automation?
Onboarding automation is the use of technology to make the process of bringing in new people, like employees, clients, or patients, faster, easier, and more secure.
Instead of doing everything manually (like filling out paperwork, verifying IDs in person, or sending endless emails), automation handles these steps digitally. That means people can sign up, get verified, and start using your service or system in just a few minutes – no physical presence needed.
Why Automating Onboarding Matters More Than Ever
Onboarding plays a crucial role in how people experience your organization from day one. Whether someone is joining as an employee, a customer, or a patient, that first interaction shapes how they view your brand.
When onboarding relies on manual steps like paperwork, email exchanges, or in-person verification, it often leads to delays, errors, and frustration. These outdated methods make it harder to move quickly, especially when trying to scale or operate across different locations.
At the same time, businesses face growing demands to protect user data, meet regulatory requirements, and ensure a secure process. Handling all of this manually takes up valuable time and creates unnecessary risk.
Automating onboarding helps solve these challenges. It creates a smoother experience for the user, reduces the workload for internal teams, and keeps processes consistent and compliant. It’s a smart way to build trust from the start while supporting long-term growth.
Now that we’ve covered why onboarding automation matters, let’s take a look at the technologies that make it possible, from document scanning to biometric verification. These tools are what turn a manual process into a seamless, secure experience.
The Types of Technologies Used in Onboarding Automation
Onboarding automation has revolutionized the way businesses and institutions verify and onboard new users, leveraging cutting-edge technologies. Let’s explore these technologies and their roles in the onboarding process.
1. OCR Technology and AI
At the heart of onboarding automation is OCR technology, which allows for the conversion of different types of documents, such as ID cards, passports, and driving licenses, into machine-readable text.
This technology is enhanced by AI to not only recognize and extract text but to also understand and verify the authenticity of the documents. AI algorithms are trained to detect patterns, and anomalies, and to cross-reference information against databases in real-time, significantly reducing the chance of fraudulent activities.
2. AI Image Recognition
AI image recognition and computer vision technologies play a pivotal role in identity verification during the onboarding process. It involves analyzing facial features from a provided image or video and comparing them against the photo ID documents submitted. Advanced algorithms can detect subtle movements, analyze facial expressions, and even measure the depth of images to prevent impersonation and fraud.
3. Wireless Connectivity Technology
Wireless connectivity technologies, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth, further augment the onboarding experience by enabling seamless data transfer and verification. NFC, in particular, is used for secure document checks, allowing users to simply scan their NFC-enabled ID documents against their phone to authenticate their identity. This method is highly secure and efficient, leveraging encrypted data stored on chips within documents for quick validation.
These technologies automate and secure the onboarding process, ensuring a user-friendly and fraud-resistant system. Let’s see it in action! We’ll guide you through a detailed overview of how your onboarding process could look with Klippa DocHorizon.
How to Automate Your Onboarding Process
Instead of creating a new solution from scratch, many businesses opt for automated ID verification solutions. Integrating such a solution not only saves time but also ensures ongoing regulatory compliance.
Here’s what a typical automated onboarding journey looks like:
Step 1: Capture and Submit Documents
The user begins by uploading a government-issued ID, such as a passport, driver’s license, or national ID card, through a mobile device or desktop. Real-time feedback helps ensure the image is clear and readable.
Step 2: Extract and Verify Personal Information
Once the document is submitted, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology automatically extracts key information like name, birthdate, and document number. AI algorithms then check the authenticity of the document and flag any signs of tampering.
Step 3: Confirm Identity with a Selfie or Video
To verify that the person submitting the document is the same as the one on the ID, the system prompts for a selfie or short video. Liveness detection ensures the user is physically present, not using a still photo or deepfake.
Step 4: Run Additional Verification Checks
Depending on the service and regulatory requirements, additional verification checks may be necessary.
- Age verification is conducted to ensure users meet any age-related conditions of the service.
- Proof of address might also be requested to confirm an individual’s residence. Typically involving the submission of documents such as utility bills or bank statements. This verification process is commonly encountered within the financial sector.
- NFC ID verification reads encrypted data present in identity document’s chips. This method ensures 100% data extraction accuracy.
Step 5: Deliver the Outcome
The result of the verification process is communicated to the user.
- If all the checks are successful, the user’s identity is verified, allowing them to access your service.
- If the verification fails, the user is informed of the rejection, with an explanation provided, and possibly the option to retry or submit additional information.
That’s it! Your new users’ identities can be verified within minutes.
The Benefits of Onboarding Automation
Automated onboarding processes are becoming more of an industry standard, with the ability to enhance the customer experience while improving the efficiency and inner workings of a business. There are many benefits to moving towards automated solutions.
The most impactful benefits include:
Improved Efficiency: Automated onboarding empowers you to reduce manual paperwork and in-person meetings, thus lowering your overhead costs and increasing efficiency.
Enhanced Security: The digital space introduces a variety of smart features like NFC checks or liveness detection. With these identity verification technologies (IDVT), you can ensure a more secure way to onboard newcomers.
Compliance with Regulations: Using automatic ID checks enables you to meet regulatory requirements such as KYC and AML rules efficiently, all while reducing costs and mitigating the risk of severe fines.
Better User Experience: You can seamlessly onboard users with automated onboarding, removing the necessity for them to visit a physical location in person. This means tasks like filling in forms take less time and can be completed from anywhere in the world.
Increased Data Accuracy: With OCR technology, you avoid human errors common in manual data entry, ensuring accurate and up-to-date user information.
Use Cases of Onboarding Automation
Given its numerous benefits, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that onboarding automation can be a game-changer across many industries. In this section, we will explore some of the most impactful real-life applications.
Automated Client Onboarding
Anytime a new client wants to use a service, onboarding is their first step. If you want to provide the best client onboarding experience, you have to ensure that it is as simple and intuitive as possible. And that’s when onboarding automation comes into play.
For instance, in the financial sector, client onboarding is a critical process where digital solutions shine, offering an exceptional combination of security, efficiency, and compliance. People opening an account can easily go through the onboarding process by submitting their documents online to confirm their identity. This not only speeds up the process but also ensures adherence to financial regulations such as KYC and AML.
Automated Employee Onboarding
If you’re searching for a better way of employee onboarding, embracing automated solutions is a sure way to make the process more effective. Picture this, quickly verifying new hires’ identities, finalizing paperwork, and providing access to company systems – all done online.
It’s particularly beneficial for working from home teams and multinational companies, enabling a consistent onboarding experience regardless of geographical location. This approach not only saves time, and resources, and reduces errors but it naturally allows your HR department to redirect their focus towards core tasks.
Automated Patient Onboarding
The healthcare sector can also benefit from automated onboarding by enhancing patient registration and the way it handles data collection processes according to HIPAA. This way, patients can submit their personal information, insurance details, and medical history through secure digital platforms before their appointments, reducing wait times and improving the quality of care.
By now, you should have a clearer picture of how onboarding automation can transcend your processes. Let’s discover the various types of technologies employed for it.
Tips for a Successful Implementation
Automating your onboarding process doesn’t have to be complicated, but the way you roll it out makes all the difference. A thoughtful setup ensures a smooth experience for both your team and your users from day one.
Start with a Clear Goal
Before diving into tools and integrations, define what success looks like. Do you want to reduce drop-offs, cut onboarding time, ensure compliance, or scale globally? Knowing your priorities helps shape the right automation flow.
Choose the Right Partner
Look for a solution that aligns with your industry needs and offers flexibility. Features like identity verification, OCR, and biometric checks should be customizable, not one-size-fits-all. Also, make sure your vendor understands compliance requirements relevant to your region or sector.
Focus on Integration
Your onboarding flow shouldn’t live in a silo. Make sure the solution integrates smoothly with your existing systems, like HR platforms, CRMs, patient portals, or internal databases. A good API setup will save time and reduce double data entry.
Design for the User
The process should feel intuitive. Use clear instructions, mobile-friendly interfaces, and real-time guidance to reduce friction. A smooth experience leads to higher completion rates and happier users.
Test, Learn, and Adapt
Start with a pilot, gather feedback, and optimize from there. Look at where users drop off, how long the process takes, and what support questions come up. Small adjustments can lead to big improvements over time.
Once everything’s in place, onboarding becomes one less thing to worry about – for your team and for the people you’re welcoming in. And while the process itself matters, the tools you choose make all the difference. That’s where Klippa comes in.
Why Klippa Is the Right Partner for Automated Onboarding
If you’re looking to make onboarding faster, safer, and less manual, Klippa is designed to help you get there.
Our Identity Verification platform doesn’t just streamline the process; it brings together all the tools you need to automate onboarding from end to end. That includes:
- Information extraction from identity documents using advanced OCR
- Authenticity checks for IDs like passports, driver’s licenses, and national cards
- Document classification based on country or language
- Support for over 500 ID types from more than 150 countries
- Anonymization of personal data to meet privacy regulations
- Fraud detection powered by AI to flag risks in real time
- Biometric verification, including selfie matching and liveness detection
- NFC checks that read encrypted chip data for maximum accuracy
All of this is available in a flexible solution that integrates seamlessly into your existing systems. Whether you’re onboarding customers, patients, or employees, Klippa gives you the speed, security, and scalability you need, without the complexity.
If you’re ready to take the manual work out of onboarding and give your users a smooth, secure start, we’d love to show you what Klippa can do. Book a demo and let’s build a better onboarding experience together!
FAQ
Not at all. Most onboarding automation solutions, including Klippa, are designed to integrate with your existing systems, like HR platforms, CRMs, or patient portals, so you can enhance your current process without starting from scratch.
It depends on your setup, but most businesses can get up and running within a few days to a few weeks. With Klippa’s flexible ID Verification API and support, the rollout is fast and doesn’t require heavy development resources.
Yes. A robust solution like Klippa supports document classification across languages and countries and recognizes over 500 types of IDs from more than 150 countries: ideal for global or multilingual operations.
Look for solutions that include biometric checks (like liveness detection and selfie matching), NFC scanning for chip-based IDs, and compliance with standards like GDPR, KYC, AML, and HIPAA. Klippa includes all of this as part of its platform.
Most systems offer clear guidance to users if verification doesn’t go through. They may be asked to resubmit documents or provide additional information. This reduces drop-offs and keeps the onboarding process moving forward without manual intervention.
Not at all. Businesses of all sizes use automation to save time, reduce errors, and improve compliance. Whether you’re onboarding ten users a month or ten thousand, automation can help you scale efficiently.