Restricting users site access until account completion

Question

I'm redesigning a site that requires a fair amount of information from users (because it deals with finance, our company is required to have KYC and AML procedures etc).

The site flow for new users is proposed as follows:

1. Homepage
2. Links to the features pages of the site (users can see all the features, but when they click to take an action, they will be brought to the Sign Up page)
3. Sign Up

4. Account creation page requiring;

   • Verify email
   • Full name & address
   • Verify phone number (add phone, then we send a security code)

   Nothing else on the page, no way out - if the user leaves, the next time they log in, they will be brought back to the account creation page.

5. After completing the account creation, they have access to the site. There is a final step; adding and verifying a bank account. But this is not required for all the actions on the site, so it would be separate from the initial account creation.

My concern is around restricting user access to the site before completing the 3 step account creation process. Should we add a "Finish later" button? Our thinking was that by allowing people to view (but not use) the features of the site prior to Sign Up, they would be ok with completing the 3 step account creation immediately post Sign Up.

Answer 1

You are on the right track by not asking for bank account information until it's needed. With todays online security breaches you need to earn the trust of your user before asking for financial information.

Here is a great article. 7 Actions that Earn User Trust

With that said, I'd prompt for bank account information only on the first action that the user invokes that requires it. If you do that, you don't need a "Finish Later" button.