Why European Banks Are Finally Solving Their Data Nightmare with nCino

If you downloaded Celent’s recent report, created in partnership with nCino, one number probably jumped off the page: 73% of banks lack a single source of data to support their entire onboarding process. That's not just a statistic—with leading banks spending an average of $15.9 million annually on onboarding operations, fragmented data is driving massive inefficiency.

You've identified the problem. You've seen the costs. Now you're asking the real question: what's the actual solution that moves you from fragmented chaos to streamlined growth?

Here's exactly how nCino's architecture addresses each finding from the research, what EMEA banks are achieving today, and what you should expect from implementation.

What the Research Found

Our research with Celent identified three critical failures destroying value in commercial banking onboarding:

Data Fragmentation Creates Chaos

With 73% of banks lacking a single source of truth, every department operates in its own silo. Customer data lives in dozens of systems. Teams can't see what others have already collected. The result? Your relationship managers waste days hunting for information that already exists somewhere in your organization.

Duplicate Work Drives Customers Away

Here's what kills conversion: 66% of banks force customers to re-enter data multiple times across systems. Picture your prospect—a busy CFO who's already provided their company structure three times. Now you're asking for it again. That's when they pick up the phone and call your competitor.

Failed AI ROI Exposes the Real Issue

The most telling finding? 71% of banks cite "data architecture not ready" as their primary barrier to AI success. You've invested millions in AI capabilities, but without clean, unified data, those investments sit idle. The algorithms work fine—they just can't access the data they need.

The research is clear: in order to address these challenges head-on, banks need platform partnerships for strategic, complex onboarding rather than building in-house or stitching together point solutions.

Why This Matters for EMEA Now

EMEA banks are losing revenue through inefficient onboarding. With 7.7% of customers abandoning the onboarding process, you’re losing potential relationships before they even begin. At $14,600 cost per customer, that abandonment translates to over $1 million wasted investment for banks onboarding 1,000 customers annually. Add the 49-day average onboarding timeline that delays revenue generation by nearly two months, and you're looking at millions in deferred cash flow.

It's time to stop the revenue leakage at your institution. Banks that assess their processes and transform their client onboarding and lifecycle management with nCino are already capturing the relationships others lose to friction and delays.

How nCino Addresses Each Problem

Single Source of Truth

Architecture That Unifies, Not Just Connects

The nCino Platform runs on Salesforce's proven infrastructure with native CRM foundations built in. This means one unified view aggregating data across multiple entities, beneficial owners, and authorized signers—not another integration layer trying to connect incompatible systems.

Your teams see everything in one place: relationship history, document status, compliance checks, product holdings. No more logging into five systems to understand one customer.

End-to-End Lifecycle Management

Easy integration sounds out of reach until you see it in action. Our platform connects seamlessly with your existing core banking systems and other key infrastructure. You keep what works while fixing what doesn't.

While many competitors offer workflow and data as separate products requiring integration, nCino delivers both KYC and KYB capabilities built directly into our platform and our loan origination system. This gives you one seamless experience without integrating multiple point solutions. Soon, this integration will enable continuous monitoring and screening in one view—proactive alerts happening automatically within the same system your relationship managers use daily. No more separate manual monitoring processes for your compliance team.

Eliminate Duplicate Data Entry

Pre-Population and Data Reuse

The nCino Platform leverages publicly available data sources to automatically populate what we already know about a business. Currently, we can populate data from over 270 million business records across the UK and Ireland—company structure, registration details, published financials, all pulled in automatically. But we go beyond our built-in data sources. Our platform connects to all your existing data sources, and we're expanding coverage throughout EMEA to ensure comprehensive pre-population wherever your customers operate.

Soon, even more robust access to data for existing clients will be available directly in the platform. Upload last year's audited accounts? The system flags any changes and presents the data to populate the relevant fields.

Make AI Actually Work

Foundation for AI Success

Clean, unified data architecture makes nCino the right foundation for AI deployment. Your models can access comprehensive, accurate data in real-time—no more data scientists spending 80% of their time cleaning data instead of building solutions.

This solid foundation positions you to take advantage of AI capabilities as they become available. We’re already developing digital partners that will transform how client lifecycle management operates. These intelligent role-based agents will handle routine tasks, freeing your experts to focus on relationship building and complex problem-solving—the work that actually drives value.

Our vision goes beyond automation to transformation, creating experiences where onboarding becomes completely frictionless for customers. The platform we're building today ensures you'll be ready to deploy these innovations as they arrive, without the typical integration challenges that plague fragmented systems.

Purpose-Built for Commercial Banking

Pre-Built Workflows That Reflect Reality—With Full Configurability

Built by bankers, for bankers, nCino understands commercial banking. We've onboarded a variety of commercial clients across EMEA. That experience translates into proven workflows you can implement immediately. No theoretical frameworks, just actual processes that work.

The nCino Platform’s configurability means you can adapt these workflows to meet your specific regulatory requirements without starting from scratch. Built-in handling of beneficial ownership, complex entity structures, and jurisdiction-specific compliance requirements comes standard.

The EMEA Advantage

Regional Expertise

Local presence with dedicated support teams across the UK means you're working with people who understand EMEA's regulatory landscape. We know the difference between UK and EU requirements. We understand how Nordic banks differ from South European ones.

This deep regional knowledge shapes your entire implementation. Our teams understand the specific challenges EMEA banks face—from varying regulatory frameworks to diverse market expectations. Every workflow we recommend and every configuration we suggest comes from real experience helping EMEA financial institutions transform their operations.

Faster Time to Market

nCino transforms how quickly you can modernize your onboarding. Implementation moves fast, especially compared to custom-built projects—everything is available right from the start. You get proven workflows from day one, built from successful deployments across EMEA. No theoretical frameworks or endless customization cycles. Your teams see immediate value while we build toward your complete transformation.

What to Expect: nCino Implementation

Common Implementation Challenges

Celent’s comprehensive research identified three primary implementation hurdles:

• Skills Gap (71% of banks): Resource constraints and expertise gaps plague legacy system modernization. The strategic question: build capabilities internally or partner?

• Infrastructure Limitations (66% of banks): Current data systems can't support modern requirements. Modernization strategies must balance immediate needs with long-term vision.

• Security and Risk Concerns (64% of banks): Innovation must maintain regulatory compliance while managing deployment risks.

nCino Implementation Phases

Phase 1: High-Impact Automation

Start with quick wins that demonstrate value immediately. Automate document collection and initial KYC/KYB processes.

Phase 2: Data Foundation

Build your unified data infrastructure and establish that single source of truth. Connect core systems, migrate historical data, and train teams on the new unified view.

Phase 3: Intelligence Deployment

With 76% of banks planning AI implementation in the next 18 months, Phase 3 positions you to deploy AI solutions on your solid data foundation. This is where transformation accelerates.

Success Metrics

Track what matters to your organization's growth. Successful implementations focus on measuring:

• Relationship growth rate: Ensure you're expanding your commercial portfolio effectively.

• Revenue per relationship: Validate that unified data and faster onboarding translate into deeper customer engagement.

• Onboarding speed: Your clearest indicator of operational transformation—when processes that took weeks now take days, you know the platform is delivering.

• Conversion rates: Improved customer experience should translate directly into more completed applications.

• Compliance accuracy: This is your risk management scorecard, confirming that automation and unified data reduce errors while strengthening your regulatory position.

The Time is Now: Leverage Better Onboarding to Accelerate Revenue

EMEA banks face a clear choice: continue wrestling with fragmented systems while competitors pull ahead, or make the decisive move to unified, intelligent onboarding.

The banks acting now aren't just solving today's problems—they're building the foundation for tomorrow's opportunities. While others remain stuck in integration projects and point solution implementations, these banks are already capturing market share.

Ready to transform your onboarding from a cost center to a growth engine? Schedule a demo to see exactly how nCino solves your specific challenges or access the full Celent research report for complete insights into commercial onboarding transformation.