A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting

How banks can unlock quick wins and lasting benefits through smart personalization

While financial institutions understand the urgency in meeting rising expectations, the path to personalization excellence is not as clear. So what areas should banks focus on to deliver the real-time, predictive, and proactive experiences their customers crave?

Smart personalization starts here

Blend commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the state of personalization in the financial services sector. Forrester conducted an online survey with 324 decision-makers at banks in North America, as well as 2,137 banking customers, to explore this topic.

Inside this study, you’ll find:

  • Real insights from banking customers and industry decision-makers
  • The many dimensions of personalization maturity for the banking sector
  • Strategic recommendations to plot your course for capturing the long and short-term business benefits that smart personalization can deliver

 

Banks looking to improve their personalization programs can use this study to explore the areas where mature banks have leveraged truly exceptional personalization to successfully differentiate from the competition, delight customers, and realize major business benefits.

Consumer expectations are rising

50% of banking customers said they wished banks would be more proactive about giving them relevant financial information and advice, and 65% believe banks should make it easier to find and shop for financial products today. While over half of consumers surveyed are looking to their banks for meaningful financial information and advice, only 14% described banks as “extremely effective” at delivering the table stakes – contextually relevant experiences and product offers.

Personalization is the next frontier

It’s clear that some decision-makers are meeting the personalization opportunity with still developing practices. However, banking professionals recognize the opportunity to differentiate, with 71% of banking decision-makers planning to increase their investment in personalization next year.

What does personalization really mean for financial institutions?

Nearly three-quarters of consumers surveyed said that product offers are more valuable when personalized.

However, while rising demand for personalization creates opportunity, digitally-empowered customers are prepared to take their money elsewhere if their banks create friction and undermine trust through insufficient or clumsy personalization.

Smart investment pays off

In cross-sell and customer acquisition, banks utilizing smart personalization were nearly 3x more likely to outperform their goals than low-maturity banks. They were also 64% more likely to overachieve against their customer experience goals and 33% more successful at improving customer loyalty and retention.

Overall, more mature banks were 26% more likely to exceed their revenue goals last year, and greatly outperform less mature banks across key business KPIs — without major cost overruns.

Start today

This study is your guide for shoring up the key capabilities that drive impactful personalization programs across all channels and touchpoints throughout the customer lifecycle. It’s time to plot your course for personalization excellence. And it starts here.

Download study