President Trump recently signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which is already making waves in the financial sector for its repeal of certain Dodd-Frank provisions that were passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Banks and other financial institutions should take note, however, that the Act also contains provisions designed to facilitate the modernization of  certain banking practices. As one example, the new law includes the Making Online Banking Initiation Legal and Easy (MOBILE) Act, which allows financial institutions to digitally onboard new customers who provide a scanned driver’s license or personal identification card. This practice is already permitted by some states, but thanks to the MOBILE Act, banking customers nationwide will soon be able to open accounts with nothing more than a smartphone.

Remote and mobile onboarding of new customers should lead to reduced banking costs and improvements in customer satisfaction, but financial institutions thinking about making the switch need to consider whether their cybersecurity protocols, policies and procedures are up to date and are specifically tailored to prevent any possible cybersecurity threats related to new onboarding processes.

The full text of the MOBILE Act is available here.