The State of Business Banking Onboarding in 2026 | Are Digital Company IDs the Answer?

Kyckr surveyed 403 UK business decision-makers who had applied for a business banking product in the last two years, and compared the results against a similar survey conducted in 2020.

What it showed: onboarding has got harder, not easier, for the businesses least able to prove who they are. The harder a company is to verify, the longer it waits, and the more often it's asked to prove itself again.

Insights from the report:

• 91% of applicants were asked for additional documents or information at least once after submitting - up from 51% in the 2020 survey.

• 35% of complex businesses were asked three or more times, nearly three times the rate of simple businesses (12%).

• 58% of complex businesses had to visit a branch to complete onboarding, against 27% of simple businesses.

• 83% of businesses said a reusable digital company ID would justify paying for it; 74% would adopt one today if offered or widely accepted by financial institutions.