CIBC Digital Client Onboarding Experience
CIBC’s Digital Client Onboarding (DCO) is designed to simplify banking and provide a seamless experience for clients with new deposit or credit card products. Bringing clarity and confidence to the first step of banking with CIBC
Role
Product Design Lead
Client
CIBC
Deliverables
UX & UI Design, Product & Design Strategy, E2E , User Retention Metrics
Year
2022-2023
❖ Full process breakdown available upon request.
The opportunity
At CIBC, we know that first impressions matter — especially when someone is opening their first account with us. But our legacy onboarding flow wasn’t keeping up with evolving client expectations or modern UX standards.
I joined the Digital Client Onboarding (DCO) team to reimagine this experience from the ground up — with a key question in mind:
Defining success
From user research and analytics, we uncovered a key behavior pattern:
Clients were getting what they needed —> activating their debit or credit card —> and then immediately tapping “Remind Me Later” to exit the flow.
This told us two things:
Clients were single-task focused — they weren’t here to explore, they came to complete something.
The onboarding flow was either too long, too confusing, or lacked immediate value beyond that one task.
To define success, we grounded our approach in two key outcomes:
Reduce drop-off by respecting user intent: Guide clients through the onboarding flow with clear next steps and easy exits, without forcing them down a rigid path.
Build trust through transparency: Rather than pushing clients through a rigid flow, we want to lean into anticipating what comes next. Acknowledge the user that we had a general sense of their likely next steps — and used this as an opportunity to offer options upfront, clearly labeled and easy to act on.
By doing this, we created a sense of control and convenience, instead of friction — helping clients feel supported, not sold to.
Key design highlights
A Clear Global Banner for All Clients
A clear 30-day notice banner gently reminds clients the time they have left to complete their tasks. It encourages them to pace themselves but also highlight the importance of staying on track.
This can reduce drop-off while maintaining transparency.
Expand/collapse task feature
This feature makes the most of your screen space by hiding less important details until you need them. It’s a smarter use of the layout in responsive views and helps the client manage tasks more easily.
The goal here was to show clearer hierarchy, cleaner copy, and better accessibility to their task progress.
Simplified Confirmation Page
Previously, the confirmation step lacked clarity and often confused clients about next steps.
The confirmation page has the ability for clients to transition to the next task without any interruptions. With fewer steps to move forward, they’re more likely to keep knocking out tasks, which means higher engagement and better completion rates.
Outcome
Initial Launch
In 2023, the first phase of the release saw strong results with the new onboarding experience, including a 6% churn rate for clients who engaged with the DCO, compared to 16.8% for those who didn’t.
Additionally, 70% of clients who interacted with the 'fund account' feature added funds, and those who engaged with the DCO in the first 30 days had significantly lower account closure rates.
Post Launch
In the next phase, we’ll create a welcome landing page to guide users through the onboarding process more easily and help new clients set up their account features.
We’ll also add an entry point on the main banking page, so clients can quickly access or return to the DCO to continue at their own pace. This can speed up access to virtual cards, linking, registration, and enhancing frontline engagement.
