The financial sector faces a dilemma: on the one hand, customers today expect digital services as intuitive as their favourite online shop. On the other hand, regulatory requirements must be met, identities verified, and complex products explained. This balancing act pushes many financial service providers to their limits.
Studies show that over 60% of digital account openings are abandoned. The reasons? Unclear processes, technical hurdles, or simply feeling overwhelmed. Every abandonment is a lost customer – in a market where customer acquisition costs an average of 300 euros per new customer.
Why explainer videos make the difference
Visual content is remembered much faster than written words – a clear advantage when it comes to digital onboarding. While a long document takes pages to explain complex processes, an explainer video conveys the same message in less than two minutes – precisely, clearly, and comprehensibly.
But it's not just about saving time: videos create closeness, lower users' inhibitions, and guide them step-by-step through even demanding processes.
Our experience at BrussoBaum shows: effective onboarding happens when three factors work together – clarity, visual appeal, and emotional engagement. Only this mix transforms an abstract financial product into a concrete, positive user experience.
Account opening: First impressions count
Digital account opening is often the first intensive point of contact between a bank and a customer. An explainer video at the start of the process can work wonders: it shows the user what to expect, explains the video identification process clearly, and alleviates fear of the unknown.
Videos that present the entire process in a visual timeline are particularly successful. The customer sees at a glance: Step 1 takes two minutes, Step 2 another three minutes, and everything is done in a total of ten minutes. This transparency demonstrably increases the completion rate by up to 40%.
Loan application: Simplify complexity without oversimplifying
With loan applications, complexity increases. Credit reports, proof of income, repayment plans – for many customers, this is a closed book. An explainer video can act as a digital advisor here, breaking down complex relationships into digestible chunks.
Our experience shows: animated infographics, for example, showing how different repayment rates affect total costs, are not only understood but actively appreciated. Customers feel informed rather than overwhelmed – the best basis for a positive loan decision.
Insurance policy: Trust through transparency
Insurance companies struggle with an image problem: too complicated, too much small print, too opaque. Explainer videos can change this perception. Instead of endless contract clauses, a two-minute video shows what is insured, what happens in the event of a claim, and how the customer proceeds in an emergency.
Real-life scenarios are particularly effective here. An animated water damage scenario showing how home contents insurance works is more memorable than any product brochure. Visual representation creates what insurance needs most: trust in a product you hope never to need.
Best practices for onboarding videos in the financial sector
From our work with financial service providers, clear success factors have emerged. Timing is everything: the video should appear exactly when the user needs it – not before, not after. The optimal length is 60 to 120 seconds per process step.
The tone must master the balancing act between seriousness and accessibility. Too casual seems unprofessional, too stiff deters. A professional but friendly tone, accompanied by calm music and clear animations, usually hits the mark.
Particularly important: interactivity increases engagement. Videos that pause at certain points and actively involve the user achieve better results than pure explainer films. This balance between information and interaction makes the difference between a good and a great onboarding experience.
Measurable success: ROI of explainer videos in onboarding
The investment in professional explainer videos pays off measurably. Financial service providers report conversion rate increases of up to 80% when videos are strategically used in the onboarding process. The abandonment rate decreases by an average of 35%, while customer satisfaction significantly increases.
Another often underestimated advantage: support inquiries decrease. If customers understand the process, they less often need to contact the hotline. This relieves customer service and saves costs – an explainer video often pays for itself within a few months.
The future of digital onboarding
The development is clearly moving towards even more personalised experiences. AI-powered videos that adapt to user behaviour are no longer a thing of the future. The integration of explainer videos into voice assistants and chatbots will also increase.
Nevertheless, the basic rule remains: a good explainer video must first and foremost be comprehensible. All technical gimmicks are useless if the core message doesn't get across. This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff, and this is the strength of experienced providers like BrussoBaum: we know how to prepare complex financial topics so that they are not only understood but also enjoyed.
Conclusion: The key to successful digital banking
Digital onboarding in the financial sector is more than a trend – it is the future. Customers expect seamless, understandable, and fast processes. Explainer videos are not a nice-to-have, but a strategic tool that can make the difference between success and failure.
The investment in professional explainer videos may initially seem high, but the ROI speaks for itself: higher conversion rates, more satisfied customers, and reduced support costs justify the expenditure many times over. In a world where customer experience determines success, explainer videos in digital onboarding have become indispensable.
