Three Areas Where Personalization is Making a Difference

In an era where consumer expectations are higher than ever, personalization has become a key differentiator for banks and credit unions. While many institutions claim to prioritize their relationships, industry leaders are tailoring services and communications to individuals based on their preferences and behaviors. This approach not only helps them stand out but also builds stronger connections. This has been especially evident in account and loan origination; mobile banking; and embedded services; three areas where it’s easy to start driving customer engagement through personalization.

1. Origination Experiences
Account and loan origination are often a customer’s first significant interaction with a financial institution. Seamless experiences at these critical touchpoints are no longer optional – they’re essential. Disjointed fintech partnerships or outdated, cumbersome origination processes create friction that not only leaves a negative impression but can lead to abandonment. Fintechs such as Clutch offer a platform that supports personalized loan and deposit onboarding experiences.

Clutch partners with credit unions to provide a streamlined experience where members can easily open and fund accounts or apply for and refinance loans, whether online or in-branch. Their platform automates cross-selling, retargeting, and modern fraud verification to deliver secure experiences tailored to a member’s financial history and approval likelihood. Additionally, a retargeting engine re-engages members who showed interest but didn’t complete applications, bringing them back to the helpful services. Such a satisfying experience can deepen a credit union’s relationship with members.

2. Mobile Banking as a Gateway
Mobile banking has become the prominent gateway to helping with a consumer’s financial success. It’s time to think of mobile as an engagement platform – a tool that includes features like geofencing and push/in-app notifications. Personalized reminders about upcoming bill payments, alerts for unusual activity, and recommendations on how to optimize financial services go a long way toward building relationships. For example, Pulsate works with institutions to send real-time proactive, personalized offers and messages at the right time and place.

With Pulsate, credit unions and banks are empowered to provide personalized, relevant communications and marketing strategies. Financial institution clients leverage the platform to stay top of wallet at the point of sale, drive lending opportunities, remind cardholders to support local merchants and re-engage consumers to improve conversions, to name a few use cases. Such data-driven engagements help institutions increase share of wallet, grow deposits and loan balances, improve satisfaction, and boost loyalty.

3. Embedded Opportunities
Financial institutions also need to provide targeted communications outside of their customer base. This is where embedded services, such as lending marketplaces, make a significant impact. Union Credit is a great example. Their marketplace helps credit unions promote their brand and products to millions of credit-worthy consumers at the point of sale.

Union Credit embeds personalized, pre-approved loan offers from credit unions on popular eCommerce websites and mobile apps, allowing them to deliver competitive financing to consumers during their moment of need. Consumers can then select the pre-approved offer that best fits their preferences and even opt-in to open a credit union checking account. This empowers consumers to make informed decisions with access to multiple options, improving their overall financial well-being and purchasing power. Platforms like this place credit unions at the center of consumers’ purchasing decisions and drive a new channel for member acquisition. These personalized, helpful financing options can be the beginning of long lasting, direct relationships.

While these three areas serve as crucial starting points, the opportunities for deepening customer connections through personalization are vast. Partnering with the right fintechs enables financial institutions to deliver cutting-edge customer experiences. To capture market share, institutions must match the user experience standards set by tech giants. Fortunately, fintechs are rising to meet this challenge, bridging the gap between traditional banking and modern consumer expectations.