Our European team attended the CX BFSI UK Exchange in London earlier this month and it was a packed two-day summit with thought-provoking discussions and valuable insights. Throughout the event, some key themes emerged that gave us real food for thought. There’s no doubt that In today’s financial climate, securing budgets for Customer Experience (CX) initiatives can feel like an uphill battle, with the demand for operational efficiency and cost reduction often overshadowing the potential for incremental gains and profitability, particularly in the consumer banking sector. Many banks have tried to improve the customer experience through incentives and rewards, without success. These experiences, lacking a personalised touch within a curated environment, have failed to drive high levels of engagement with the banks digital assets, resulting in little appetite to focus on investment in this area, despite the potential to reduce cost-to-contact ratio by incentivising customers to move to these channels and increase self-service.

As we engaged with the sessions, it became evident that daily banking, often viewed as a loss-leader, holds the key to unlocking an engaged, loyal customer base who provide opportunity to consume a wider range of more profitable financial products. The potential to deliver intelligent, real-time product up-sell and cross-sell opportunities within the banking experience through effective digitisation, incentive & reward can be the new reality. Imagine personalised product recommendations based on a customer’s balance fluctuations, loan behaviour, and mortgage activity? With advances in technology and open banking capabilities, building a true understanding of a customer and determining their value to the bank is achievable without a huge amount of effort, using the right partner. 

Strategic Investment in CX 

Recognising that investment in customer experience is not simply an expense, but a cornerstone for building enduring customer relationships that are mutually beneficial, fostering loyalty, delivering value and achieving differentiation within this increasingly competitive marketplace, is paramount. The relentless focus on cost reduction, while understandable and often a necessity, can obscure the potential for the significant gains available to those forward-thinking organisations who build customer-centric strategies focused on digitisation that drive operational efficiency while offering incentive to change customer behaviour. The majority of banks find themselves at a crossroads, navigating a tightrope between immediate financial objectives and the long-term imperative of building stronger customer connections.

The Power of Personalisation in Achieving Higher Engagement

Banking institutions that have experimented with rewards programs frequently encounter a common obstacle: a lack of meaningful engagement from their consumers. This challenge stems from the generic “one size fits all” nature of the rewards and incentives, where customers are sent impersonal offers that fail to resonate with their individual needs, preferences, and behaviours. Without this personalised touch, any reward loses its effectiveness and fails to capture customer attention or loyalty, and can oftentimes lead to dissatisfaction and lower CSAT scores. Despite good intentions, oftentimes banks struggle to achieve the desired level of participation and engagement within their rewards programs, which is surprising when you consider just how much relevant information they have on each individual customer. The key takeaway here is the importance of utilising that data to curate and tailor rewards and incentives to each customer’s unique profile, creating an experience that delivers genuine value and fosters engagement.

Intelligent Upselling: A Paradigm Shift

As we came to the last few sessions at the CX Exchange, it became clear that everyday banking, while traditionally viewed as a loss leader, is actually a hidden gem within the financial landscape, serving as a gateway to establishing authentic relationships with customers, and paving the way for deeper engagement with a wider prospect pool to consume more profitable financial products and services. Understanding the value of each individual customer, building and segmenting those customers based on that value is where the real innovation lies, using intelligent algorithms and data-driven insights that draw on the pool of existing information many banks hold, to drive profitability and redefine the boundaries for up-selling and cross-selling across their product portfolio. By leveraging technology and advanced analytics, recommendations can be meticulously tailored to each individual’s financial behaviour. This paradigm shift presents a monumental opportunity for financial institutions to not only meet but exceed customer expectations, ultimately fostering deeper trust and loyalty while driving growth, and improving operational efficiency through digitisation. 

Your partner in Customer Engagement, Incentive & Reward

Capillary’s comprehensive suite of products and services empowers banks and financial service providers with cutting-edge tools to manage customer engagement, automation, incentive & reward management. We help our clients realise the potential of digitisation in driving operational efficiency through the creation of truly personalised incentive and reward programs that help build meaningful, profitable relationships with their customers. If we didn’t manage to connect with you at the event, please do not hesitate to reach out to the team to learn more about how we can empower your teams to unlock the full potential of customer-centric experiences that change behaviour and deliver business outcomes.

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Vicki is a highly regarded senior leader with over 25 years experience across B2C & B2B marketing, loyalty & e-commerce, travel, media & technology. Prior to joining Capillary, Vicki led high-performing commercial teams at Expedia Group, Sabre & DMGT before moving into loyalty & customer engagement technology. She holds an MBA with distinction, and certification in Strategic Management & Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute.