Nearly 70% of Consumers Want Banks to Tell Them How to Grow and Save Their Money

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NEW YORK, NY (March 23, 2023) – Sopra Banking Software (SBS), the global fintech company creating a new breed of banks to power financial services in every industry, today announced the consumer-focused findings of Sopra Steria’s second annual Digital Banking Experience (DBX) Report. This year’s report, produced in partnership with Forrester and IPSOS, reveals that consumers expect their banks to play a bigger role in their financial journeys. Rather than simply store their money, 69% of consumers are looking to their banks for personalized financial advice to help them save more money, and grow it in the process.

Consumers are accustomed to receiving personalized recommendations any time they’re online. Netflix surfaces movies and TV shows that complement users’ viewing habits. Spotify suggests music and podcasts, Instagram shows ads for relevant products and brands, and TikTok confidently curates users’ entire feed on their behalf. With 36% of consumers claiming to check their bank account(s) at least once a day, much like they would their social media and entertainment channels, they have begun expecting their banking experiences to be personalized too.

“Banks that are willing to prioritize personalized financial recommendations over some of their other digital initiatives are more likely to acquire new customers and retain existing ones,” said Eric Bierry, CEO of Sopra Banking Software.

Sopra Steria and IPSOS surveyed 12,500 bank customers in 14 countries, including 1,000 U.S. respondents, to better understand consumers’ banking needs and how banks are stacking up. The resulting Digital Banking Experience (DBX) Report reveals a divergence between banks that are focusing on what consumers actually want and those offering what they think consumers want.

Among the findings:

  • Banks should put more energy into offering personalized financial recommendations. Despite the ease of communicating with banks about account balances and basic transactions through digital channels, consumers say banks drop the ball when it comes to doling out tailored financial advice based on their unique financial behaviors and histories. Only 26% of consumers say they are completely satisfied with the level of personalization offered by banks’ digital tools. And nearly half (41%) of consumers felt that when they were in contact with banks, they did not want to help them earn more money.
  • Consumers are more excited about offerings that help them manage their money than the advanced technology and currency offerings that banks are focused on. Consumers are simple – they want services that make them money and guide their financial investments. They are not as interested in the high-tech capabilities banks have been focused on. Seventy-six (76%) of consumers are interested in loyalty programs on credit cards that earn them money, and 67% would be interested in tools that offer alerts on financial problems like overdraft risks and recommendations for day-to-day money management.
  • Consumers would rather connect with their banks digitally, than visit them in-person. Fifty-six percent (56%) of consumers say they most frequently communicate with their bank via a mobile app, followed by a website (49%). And consumers are communicating often with their banks on these digital channels, with11% of consumers saying they check their bank account two or more times a day.
  • Consumers aren’t ready to completely replace cash, but they want alternative digital payment options. Nearly half (46%) of consumers do not want to totally replace cash with digital payments, but a majority of consumers (68%) are interested in consolidating all of their payment formats into one application and 58% are open to completely replacing physical bank cards with mobile payments.

“Banks have massive amounts of data about customer banking trends and behaviors, giving them an obvious competitive edge over emerging fintechs and neobanks. While banks see these digital challengers as their biggest competitors, often their most immediate threat is other traditional banks who transform quicker–or better–than them, to meet actual customer demand,” continued Bierry.