This post is brought to you by our friends at TD Bank. Opinions are my own.

This review covers the breakthrough account application process that TD Direct Investing recently rolled out to their Canadian customers. To be clear this solution pertains to Canadian customers, not customers in the United States.

If you live in Canada you may know what a pain it is to sign up for a direct trading account, for instance.

The sign-up process is highly regulated, requiring providers to collect a significant amount of information.

For nearly all major financial institutions in Canada the account opening process for direct trading accounts requires you to go to a physical branch to open your account – while you may be able to start the process online, you cannot finalize it without physically going into a branch.

I, for one, can’t stand having to go to a physical location to apply for an account that could (should?) be possible to complete online. I ran into issues a while back when I attempted to open a bank account for one of my LLCs, and I was furious that I had to go to a physical bank branch. Once at the branch, most of the time was spent relaying information to the banker who typed it into forms on his computer screen.

It took well over an hour and was completely inefficient and backwards considering the technology available today.

Banks and other financial institutions operate in a highly regulated environment, which brings unique challenges. That being said, if the process is simply collecting and verifying information, there is no reason for a consumer to have to go to a physical branch, nor should they have to wait up to two weeks for their account to be set up and ready for use (which has been the case for a direct trading account…until now).

As frustrating as this has been for Canadians who have previously signed up or attempted to sign up for a direct trading account, thankfully there has been some innovation in this area. I’m excited to share that TD Direct Investing recently rolled out a fully online account opening process that is significantly easier and quicker than the traditional process that most other financial institutions use.

TD’s 100% Online Account Application Process

 
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a demo of the new account application process. The user TD has created is top notch. Here’s some of the specific ways the new process sets itself apart.

The speed of the new process cannot be understated. Per consumer feedback, the application process can be completed in approximately 15 minutes. An estimated 80% of people signing up for a direct trading account, RSP, or TFSA are existing customers, in which case even less information is needed, making the process even quicker.

TD took a process that traditionally takes up to two full weeks and cut it down to approximately 24 hours.

The traditional process involves a user either doing the entire application or finishing the application in a physical branch. They then receive their account access information in the mail approximately one week later. A week after that they receive their pin that allows them to actually start trading on their account. TD’s fully online process gives account access within minutes and trading capability can be set up within 48 hours.

Additionally you can apply for multiple accounts (i.e. a direct trading account, RSP, TFSA) all at once. At some financial institutions you need to apply for each separately.

As I said earlier, I hate having to go to a physical location to set up something as “digital” as a trading account or retirement account. I think most millennials and even non-millennials will agree that having the option to sign up online is a huge benefit, but is also expected today.

Not only do you get to avoid having to go to a physical branch to finish the application process, you don’t even have to go on your laptop! The design is responsive, meaning it’s mobile-friendly and can be completed on your smartphone.

Here’s an example of the mobile page to upload your ID:

 
When you go through the application process you can tell that the team at TD Bank made user experience a top priority. The Bank wanted the process to be as easy and intuitive as possible, and has plans for additional enhancements over time.

Head over to TD Direct Investing to check out the new application process. I think you’ll be happy to find out just how easy it is to navigate, as well as how quickly your account or accounts will be set up and ready for use.