Regional lender CIBC Caribbean has rolled out a fully digital system that allows small entrepreneurs to open business accounts online, cutting out paperwork and branch visits.
The bank’s new Business Banking Digital Client Onboarding (DCO) feature lets users complete the entire process from a mobile phone, tablet or computer. Business owners can upload documents, verify information and build out their company profile at their own pace.
The platform is already live in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia. It is expected to come to five additional territories, including Trinidad and Tobago, in the coming months.
Deepa Boucaud, Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, CIBC Caribbean, said the system is built to remove long-standing barriers that have frustrated small operators trying to formalise their businesses.
“The new system is designed to remove traditional barriers to opening a business account, providing entrepreneurs with a faster, simpler, and more transparent onboarding experience, replacing paperheavy requirements with streamlined digital interactions. Entrepreneurs can upload required documents, verify details, and complete their business profile from any device, at their own pace,” Boucaud said.
One of the key changes targets early-stage and micro businesses that often struggle to produce formal financial statements. Boucaud pointed to the platform’s “dynamic financial activity capture,” which allows low-risk sole proprietors to submit estimated income and expense figures digitally instead of audited statements.
The system also walks applicants through jurisdiction-specific requirements, reducing errors and compliance gaps across different markets.
Internally, the bank said the upgrade tightens Anti-Money Laundering controls, improves data quality and cuts processing time. It also lays the groundwork for multi-owner onboarding, partnerships, merchant services and broader product offerings.
