Jody Bhagat: President of Americas at Personetics, a global leader in data-driven personalization & CE for financial institutions.
The financial services industry has hit an inflection point. Banks currently face a moving target: As customers live more of their lives in digital channels, they expect the same level of personalization from their financial apps that they get from streaming services and e-commerce. As FIS Chief Technology Officer Firdaus Bhathena recently shared with me, “Our mandate as an industry is to fit into the lives of this next generation of customers, as opposed to forcing them to modify their behaviors into the world that we come from.”
In my experience serving leading banks throughout North America that are leaning into delivering personalized experiences, I’ve identified five critical success factors for banks looking to make digital banking feel more personal:
1. Start with clean data.
Many banks rush to implement AI-driven insights without making sure their data foundation is solid. This inevitably leads to sending customers recommendations that are out of context, which can erode trust.
Success requires getting your hands directly on data governance and quality controls before rolling out any personalization initiatives. Banks need clear data lineage and cleansing processes to ensure their recommendations actually reflect what’s happening in customers’ financial lives.
2. Build momentum through targeted use cases.
Rather than trying to personalize everything at once, focus on a few high-impact, low-risk use cases first.
For example, one community bank started by offering simple spending breakdowns to their mobile users. This focused approach led to a 94% adoption rate and a 30% to 35% increase in digital engagement.
The key is showing customers how specific actions connect directly to their goals—whether that’s a vacation next summer or retirement in 15 years.
3. Bridge digital and human channels.
Personalization falls flat when it’s trapped in your mobile app. Your tellers, call center reps and relationship managers need to know what their customers are seeing digitally so they can reinforce and build on those insights.
Train banker teams to reference personalized insights during customer interactions and gather feedback that improves the digital experience. This creates a virtuous cycle where personal interactions inform digital development and vice versa.
4. Measure what matters.
Establish clear success metrics before launch. While engagement statistics matter, focus also on customer satisfaction and net promoter score (NPS) changes. One institution saw its NPS increase by seven points after implementing personalized financial guidance.
Focus on metrics that demonstrate both immediate impact and long-term relationship growth.
5. Make it useful and actionable.
Financial services must integrate naturally into customers’ daily lives. This requires cloud computing, data analytics and AI to be interconnected components rather than separate initiatives. Successful banks create platforms for this purpose—to accelerate their ability to solve real user problems.
The banks getting this right don’t see personalization as another tech initiative to check off but as a complete rethinking of customer relationships. They recognize that everyone deserves personalized financial guidance, not just those who can afford professional advisors.
By following these principles, banks can deliver the personalized experiences customers expect while maintaining the trust essential to banking relationships. The question is no longer whether to personalize but how to do it right.
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?