From sameness to standing out: 3 keys for financial brands

Let’s be real – most of us don’t feel emotionally connected to our banks.

When it feels like every financial institution is offering variations of the same services, there aren’t many standout moments that endear customers to specific brands.

It’s the dreaded sea of sameness that brands have struggled with for years – but the stakes have never been higher.

How do you get from that sea to steady ground? There are 3 keys to success:

Take a page out of the writer’s playbook: get rid of the offers you like but no longer contribute to the brand story you want to tell.

We’re at a point where 77% of customers expect to be rewarded for their loyalty, but 52% are open to switching banks in the next 12 months. In other words, historical “darlings” like transactional perks may bring customers in, but they won’t make those customers stay.

Cashback is always great at the start of customer interactions, but if brands are trying to build lifelong relationships, that story needs to move from instant gratification to deeper connection. 

That’s where experience-led programs come in.

Compare a few hundred dollars in your customers’ new accounts to steady uptake for high perceived value rewards like wellness escapes, front-row concert seats, or luxury travel credits. These are the moments that make memories – and good memories cultivate real brand loyalty. 

Think about what types of rewards align with both your brand and your audience for maximum impact.

Rather than perks as one-and-done deals, think of them as emotional investments in your current and target customers. To hit the right notes and deliver experiences that resonate, you need to truly understand what kind of rewards program your customers want. And when you can do that, you start to fit into their lives and routines.

Do you have a customer who books a vacation twice a year like clockwork? Give them travel rewards. How about someone who always grabs a coffee for their daily commute? Use that gold mine of data your brand is gathering and make that coffee courtesy of their bank who’s got their back.

When we worked on a student rewards program with Absa Group in South Africa, it was a complete departure from generic freebies. Together, we delivered a full year of customized experiences designed around how students live, spend, and socialize. Sign-ups and peer referrals spiked as soon as we started meeting students’ needs since we established emotional loyalty up front.

You can design the best customer experience in the world, but if your brand's loyalty experience doesn’t keep pace, it’s going to impact your brand. Customers expect sophisticated, seamless journeys from their financial institutions, like:

• An intentional, frictionless app experience that rivals their favorite tech brand’s UX.
• Consistency across touchpoints, from website to customer support to branches.
• Real-time communications and intuitive reward offerings.
• Personalized rewards that are easy to redeem and remember.

When the experience feels disconnected, your customers feel disconnected from your brand. But if every part of your brand and rewards program is working together, you’re in the perfect position to communicate, differentiate, and keep your brand top of mind.