Looking to stand out in banking? Try this approach to personalization

Banks like yours face mounting pressures to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market. Consequently, a global survey conducted by Omdia (2023 Trends to Watch: Retail Banking) from more than 6,400 interviews of CIOs and other senior IT decision makers found that 23% had ‘Personalized Customer Experience’ as the top IT project for the next 18 months, as they look to transform both the customer’s and bank’s experience of customer engagement. Banks realize personalization has become an essential part of their differentiation tactics. But the answer isn’t to match promotions from competitors. Instead, look to lead the market by making your bank as relevant as you can to your customers, each one of them.

You may say you’re already trying to do exactly that with personalization. It’s the right track, but many efforts fall short. When it works, you deliver the right offer to the right customer at the right time. The many roadblocks banks experience as to why personalization initiatives stumble was highlighted by Mckinsey & Company, who found there needed to be the right mix of using the right technology, but also having the right ecosystem set up in organizations to use the analytics effectively.

Banks can turn to Amdocs Product & Pricing Catalog to drive a marketing-leading level of personalization. It empowers you to tailor banking products to every customer. You create, launch, and manage cross-bank products that match customer wants with a core-agnostic solution. Business users refine offers with little or no IT involvement. Customers get personalized product bundles, promotions, rewards, statements, and limited time offers. You deliver products that suit your customers’ financial lifestyles.

No more small, medium, and large banking products

At most banks, if I want to open an account — say a new household checking account — I’m offered a small selection or the same product as every other customer. A bank employee or online product selector might recommend one of three checking options (silver, gold, or platinum, for example) based on my likely use of the account. Such a slim range of options may push me to see if competitors are offering something beyond one of these three cookie-cutter accounts.

But what if the bank made a unique offer that matched my lifestyle instead? With personalization, the bank can use the data from across my other accounts (such as mortgage, car loans, and credit card) to create an option designed to appeal to me as an individual. That could take the form of a targeted incentive, such as the bank covering the cost of a subscription service for a set period of time. Or it could be a promotional interest rate on another account. Or it could present a bundle that makes each of my accounts with the bank more relevant to me.

This hyper-personalization makes me a segment of one, offering a banking product experience that fits me perfectly. My takeaway as a customer? My bank understands my lifestyle, and my deepening of that relationship enhances my financial life. There’s no longer a reason to try challenger banks.

Unpacking the potential of bundles

Your customers’ financial lives and well-being extend far beyond banking. Personalization lets you bundle traditional banking products with a larger universe of financial and non-financial products. Simple API-based integrations make it easy to partner with other businesses to create truly unique product bundles.

Banking bundles can include things like gym memberships, debt management apps, streaming entertainment, and more. Personalization targets offers to the right customers, helping you avoid drowning customers in an overwhelming or irritating number of promotions. Customers experience just a few offers, and each one fits their lifestyle.

To impact customers even more deeply and to further your ESG programs, include charities in partner onboarding efforts. You can then empower customers to easily support their favorite causes as they bank. Incorporating this into your bank’s own giving initiatives and branding presents an opportunity to attract and retain customers.

The trend toward open banking makes the integration of third-party services all the more relevant. With the personalization of offers that include non-banking services, you add value to customer relationships as you grow revenue from partnerships, such as with insurance and travel providers. You can even partner with your own small-business customers at the local bank level. Through you, they can reach relevant retail customers with personalized promotions that win them new business.

Core-agnostic personalization in action

Bank Hapoalim, a leading Israeli bank, wanted more personalization power — without impacting its core banking systems. It turned to Amdocs Product & Pricing Catalog, giving it a centralized product master and a 360-degree view of customers. The bank uses Amdocs Product & Pricing Catalog to drive a more differentiated experience for customers thanks to personalized product bundles and market-leading offers. Learn more about how Bank Hapoalim elevates banking for customers.

See a difference in months not years

When you use Amdocs Product & Pricing Catalog, you get started fast. It’s one of those rare solutions that furthers digital transformation quickly. There’s no need to change your legacy core banking systems to deploy Amdocs Product & Pricing Catalog. Go from zero to delivering offers that support key initiatives in months. You can then rapidly expand product innovation across all lines of business.

Talk to the Amdocs team today about how Amdocs’ Product & Pricing Catalog can help you differentiate your bank for every customer.