Forrester Research recently published their annual survey of US banking customer experience, featuring analysis of service at 28 different banks. Although I’m focused more on the UK and European markets, it’s always interesting to see these CX index surveys from Forrester because banking trends in one market very quickly go global due to the very global nature of the industry.

So what were the most interesting observations from the research? The standouts for me were:

  • The new online-only (or direct) banks attract new business primarily by focusing on a great customer experience. Fortunately for these banks, 73% of their customers do actually think they provide a great experience.
  • The traditional banks get very little loyalty from doing what their customers expect a bank should be able to do – such as tell them what is in their account. The main communication failure of retail banks (in the opinion of customers) is not offering more advice and guidance for customers – such as categorising their spending and telling them that their outgoings on restaurants have dramatically increased this month. Customers expect more intelligence and insight into their spending, not just a balance.
  • Online banks need to focus on making customers feel appreciated, confident, and valued if they want to achieve loyalty from customers. If these banks make the customer feel valued 90% of customers will advocate for the brand – essentially telling their friends and family what a great bank they use.
  • Traditional banks don’t feel that boosting the confidence of their customers is part of what they should be doing – they focus on respecting the customer and 67% of traditional bank customers say that this is what they expect most from their bank.

What I think really stands out here applies beyond the US market alone. There are different customer expectations when the customers of traditional banks are compared to those who use online-only banks. Traditional customers expect deference and respect, traditional banking values. Online customers expect the bank to be more of a lifestyle assistant that can empower and guide their spending.

Managing these very different expectations will be a challenge, particularly as the viability of large branch networks is being challenged. It could even mean that the traditional banks need to streamline their branch operations and launch spin-off Fintechs to satisfy a new generation of customers who have completely different expectations. What do you think about these research insights? Please leave a comment here or get in touch on LinkedIn with your views on banking and CX.