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Banks have long realized that their success depends on delivering frictionless customer experiences. By leading in customer satisfaction, they can benefit from the ‘stacked wins’ of higher returns, faster growth, and lower costs. At the same time, satisfied customers are more loyal, spend more, and are more likely to recommend their bank to friends.
However, becoming customer-centric in today’s digital landscape is no straightforward task. By definition, customer centricity demands that the customer be at the heart of a bank’s decisions: Every product, service, and experience should be curated to improve satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. However, according to McKinsey, companies often fail because they are insufficiently aware of their customers’ real needs and preferences across journeys.
It’s vital, then, that banks improve their understanding of the full customer lifecycle. This report is designed to help. In the following pages, we break down the customer lifecycle into its various stages, from the initial customer acquisition and onboarding process right through to retention and advocacy.
To showcase how best practices and technology can enhance the banking experience across all these stages, we’ve also included insights from our survey of financial institutions across the globe. We’ve then added depth to this survey with interviews with established banking executives. We asked them about their progress in improving the customer experience, the roadblocks they have faced along the way, and where they see the most significant potential in the future. We hope you find it a useful resource.
Download the full report
Key findings
Awareness & Acquisition
Financial institutions that adopt innovative digital marketing strategies centered on personalization, strategic partnerships, and content marketing can successfully attract new customers.
Onboarding & Account opening
Banks and credit unions should focus on enhancing customer onboarding by implementing fast and secure verification processes, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.
Daily banking & transaction processes
Majority of financial institutions acknowledge that banking customers seek convenience and simplicity in a single app, and they are striving to develop a SuperApp to meet this demand.
Customer Relationship Management
With 37.5% of organizations already deploying chatbots, many see the potential of AI-driven customer support to enhance service quality and reduce wait times.
Retention and Loyalty Building
Banks can utilize data-driven strategies to effectively segment customers and continuously adjust their programs to align with evolving customer needs and market trends.
Churn management
By analyzing attrition patterns, banks can pinpoint customers at risk of leaving and apply strategies to retain them, thereby boosting customer lifetime value.
Study contributors
Andrea Zanzottera
Banca Widiba
Head of Data Intelligence & CVM
Marian Ignat
Erste Group
Head of Group Retail Transformation
Radu Topliceanu
Mashreq
Executive Vice President, Head of Neo and Personal Banking
