Transactional ease is essential to the customer experience, but financial services brands that prioritize emotional connection are more likely to build lasting loyalty.
In the race to win and retain customers, financial services organizations have long focused on streamlining experiences—making them faster, easier, and more convenient. While these efforts have improved efficiency and momentary satisfaction, they often miss the bigger picture: transactions alone don’t build relationships. And in a highly commoditized market, they certainly don’t differentiate one brand from another.
The limits of transactional thinking.
The focus on transactional excellence has been well-placed. But the real challenge is moving beyond transactional convenience to cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers.
Why it’s crucial for financial institutions to elevate their approach:
Emotional Connection is Lacking. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, 79% of banking customers say that digital ease is important, but only 36% feel emotionally connected to their financial institution. This gap highlights the need for banks to build emotional bonds, not just functional transactions.1
The Majority Feel Detached: A 2024 Harris Poll commissioned by Q2 Holdings found that only 41% of U.S. consumers feel their financial institution provides personalized support aligned with their individual goals and priorities. Nearly 60% don’t feel a meaningful relationship with their provider, underscoring the need for more personal engagement.2
These stats highlight a critical disconnect: efficient service is often delivered without fostering genuine emotional connection. When financial services brands compete solely with transactional capabilities, they risk becoming interchangeable, and thus vulnerable to attrition.
Why going beyond transaction matters.
We’ve observed that leading FIs are reframing their approach: not just asking “How do we make this transaction seamless?” but “How do we make this interaction meaningful?”
This isn’t just a philosophical shift, it’s a mission-critical imperative.
Bain & Company has found that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%.3
In financial services, deeper relationships often equate to higher lifetime value: more products held, higher balances, and greater advocacy. When customers feel known and supported—not just served—they reward that connection with their long-term business.
In financial services, deeper relationships often equate to higher lifetime value: more products held, higher balances, and greater advocacy. When customers feel known and supported—not just served—they reward that connection with their long-term business.”
How does “going beyond transactions” drive loyalty in Financial Services?
Banking: Deposit accounts are just the start. Forward-thinking institutions use behavioral data to anticipate life events—like saving for a home or preparing for retirement—and proactively offer tools and guidance tailored to that journey.
Insurance: Instead of limiting interactions to annual premium notices, insurers are engaging policyholders with safety content, risk reduction tools, and post-claim check-ins that humanize the experience.
Investments: Beyond portfolio performance, wealth managers build loyalty by addressing emotional needs like financial confidence, legacy, and security—through consistent, personalized communication.
These relational moments create a sense of care and partnership that far outlasts the efficiency of a single transaction.
Measuring What Matters
Brands need more than point-of-service satisfaction scores to understand whether interactions with customers are fostering relationship growth. Strategic, foundational market research can connect the dots between individual interactions and broader emotional loyalty.
Key approaches include:
Journey-based qualitative research to uncover where customers feel most connected—or disconnected.
Need-based segmentation that uncovers the distinct motivations, preferences, and challenges of different customer groups.
Loyalty and brand health research programs that model how transactional performance and emotional brand perceptions work together to influence outcomes like retention, deepening relationships, and advocacy.
Relationship-based KPIs and drivers uncovered in the foundational research should be incorporated into all transactional surveys to ensure linkage to holistic relationship-based objectives.
With the right research infrastructure, you can measure not just how your experiences perform—but how they make customers feel, and whether those feelings lead them to stay, grow, and refer.
Let’s Talk About Loyalty
If your organization is rethinking how to deepen customer relationships and drive loyalty beyond transactions, we can help. From uncovering motivations to shaping brand experiences that resonate, our financial services research experts are ready to partner with you. Contact us now to discuss your needs.
1 Deloitte. Balancing act: Seeking just the right amount of digital for a happy, healthy connected life, 2023.
2 Harris / Q2. Holdings, The Personal Bank: Delivering personalized experiences across generations, 2024.
3 Bain & Co. Retaining customers is the real challenge, 2024.
