Decoding the customer lifecycle: Optimal strategies and technological trends in banking for 2025

in partnership with

ebankIT

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ebankIT is an international company that develops a leading Omnichannel Digital Banking Platform with capabilities to...

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Digital Reinvention
11/09/2024 Study

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.

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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

profile picture of Andrzej Fűrstenberg

Andrzej Fűrstenberg

Bank Pekao

Director of the Transaction Banking Department

profile picture of Robin Silfverhielm

Robin Silfverhielm

SBAB

CXO

profile picture of Burçe Gültekin

Burçe Gültekin

Yapi Kredi

Digital Marketing and Customer Acquisition Manager

profile picture of Andrea Zanzottera

Andrea Zanzottera

Banca Widiba

Head of Data Intelligence & CVM

profile picture of Marian Ignat

Marian Ignat

Erste Group

Head of Group Retail Transformation

profile picture of Fatih Özdemir

Fatih Özdemir

VakifBank

Head of IT & Data Management

profile picture of Tracey Williams

Tracey Williams

Absa Group

Senior Design Director

profile picture of Radu Topliceanu

Radu Topliceanu

Mashreq

Executive Vice President, Head of Neo and Personal Banking

profile picture of Nuno Reis

Nuno Reis

Millennium BCP

IT Director

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