Archive · 26 Sep 2026
Banks Need Seamless Digital Onboarding to Attract NRI Deposits
More Indians living abroad are putting money into Indian bank deposits.
Their deposits increased by 43% in 2024.
Banks must check customers’ identities, documents and risks before opening accounts.
Doing these checks manually can take a long time.
Digital KYC and document-checking tools can make the process faster.
These tools can also keep records and send complicated cases to human compliance teams.
Experts say customers may choose banks based on how easy and fast the process is, not just on interest rates.
The RBI’s FCNR window runs until September 2026, giving banks time to improve onboarding and attract more NRI customers.
NRI deposits rose 43% to $13.33 billion in 2024, strengthening the case for better onboarding.
Mobicule Technologies’ Prasad Patil said banks should use digital KYC and document intelligence to manage rising applications.
Industry-wide AI adoption in KYC and AML reportedly increased from 42% in 2024 to 82% in 2025.
Automated verification can reduce processing time by about 78% versus manual review, according to the article.
Banks have until September 2026 under the RBI’s FCNR window to convert deposit interest into lasting NRI relationships.
- Who
- Indian banks, overseas Indians, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and technology and compliance providers are involved.
- What
- Banks are being encouraged to use digital KYC, document intelligence and automated workflows to onboard NRI customers more efficiently.
- When
- NRI deposits increased in 2024; reported AI adoption figures compare 2024 with 2025; the RBI’s FCNR window continues through September 2026.
- Where
- The onboarding is conducted remotely for overseas customers, with the article comparing processes in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
- Why
- Higher NRI deposit flows are increasing onboarding demands, while slow or inconsistent processes can cause banks to lose customers.
- NRI deposit growth
- NRI deposits increased 43% to $13.33 billion in 2024.
- FCNR window
- The RBI’s FCNR window continues through September 2026.
- AI adoption
- Reported KYC and AML AI adoption rose from 42% in 2024 to 82% in 2025.
- Automated verification
- Automated verification can reduce processing time by around 78% compared with manual review.
- Review-time reduction
- Some institutions have reduced KYC and AML review times by up to 60%.
- Client losses
- Fenergo research found that 70% of financial institutions lost clients in 2025 because of slow onboarding, compared with 48% in 2023.
- Onboarding comparison
- UK corporate banks take more than six weeks on average for onboarding, while Singapore-based institutions are described as comparatively faster.