The materials available in this article are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your own advisors with questions regarding the digital transformation in banking content herein. The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the individual authors and may not reflect the opinions of MeridianLink, Inc.
Baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z each have their own defining behaviors and characteristics. However, one thing transcends the generational divide: digital banking.
Whether through online or mobile channels, digital banking has become the preferred banking method among all generations of consumers. Beyond that digital-first imperative, today’s consumers also expect these digital experiences to be fast, convenient, and personalized. ore is augmented by refined underwriting rules and implemented within your decision engine.
Explore the full breakdown in Meet Consumers Where They Click.
One area clearly reflecting this digital transformation in banking is in the share of digital-only institutions that claimed 44% of new checking accounts in 2024, up from 36% in 2020.
With a focus on simplicity, speed, and transparency, these challenger institutions have reimagined banking. Specifically, they’re framing it as an experience rather than a transactional relationship, adapting to consumers’ needs and lives.
That said, this certainly isn’t the end of the road for traditional banks and credit unions. Rather, this is the time for these institutions to evolve. The way forward lies in digital engagement strategies aligned with the flexibility, personalization, and convenience modern consumers expect.
It Starts With Understanding Generational Behaviors & Capturing Attention
To reach modern consumers, it helps to first understand their needs, the products and services they’re seeking out, and the channels they tend to use to engage with banking and lending services, all of which can differ from generation to generation.
According to a report from Experian, the next five years will hold several critical milestones for each generation:
- The share of Gen Zers aging into independent credit acquisition will peak at over 21 million people.
- The largest cohort of millennials will approach the average first-time home-buyer age, reaching its own peak in 2026.
- The oldest segment of Gen X will reach the average retirement age.
- The largest segments of baby boomers will be at or near the average retirement age.
Responding to these circumstances with tailored service and product offerings will be vital to growing and maintaining business. This could look like millennial-focused mortgage campaigns. For baby boomers, it could be financial advisory services helping retirees manage finances and wealth transfer to younger family members.
Then there’s the overarching experience preferences among each generation. The same Experian report found that baby boomers highly value the availability of human interaction in banking experiences; Gen X and baby boomers prefer bank websites over mobile apps; and Gen Z and millennials are more likely to research banking products and services online and through social media.
To meet these preferences, FIs can prioritize items including but not limited to:
- The option to connect with a real person in digital applications for any questions that may arise.
- A seamless, device-agnostic application experience that can be started on one channel and easily completed on another. For example, adopting a save-and-resume feature that lets a consumer begin an application from their phone and complete it later from their laptop.
- Optimized search visibility and responsive web design to ensure online discoverability with a smooth follow through.
It’s also worth noting that 66% of consumers are comfortable with their FI using their data to personalize experiences. With this in mind, FIs can utilize tools like loan and savings calculations or pre-qualification journeys. These items deepen engagement while capturing valuable data for refined messaging, audience segmentation, and tailored future offers that can drive acquisition and retention.
Once That Attention Is Captured, It’s Time To Deliver a Seamless Onboarding Experience
Across generations, consumers expect a unified, smooth application process that can be completed in under five minutes. Don’t let initial searchability and smooth website navigation be undermined by a long, convoluted digital application experience resulting in abandonment.
There are a few measures FIs can take to keep digital applications short, swift, and secure:
- Remove unnecessary fields, display progress indicators, and enable data field auto-fill.
- Implement AI-powered ID verification for fast, safe authentication.
- Deploy fraud protection measures like device risk assessments and behavioral analytics to automatically flag suspicious activity and patterns.
- Use behavioral data and analytics to tailor onboarding journeys to individuals’ profiles and intents.
- Continuously optimize processes with data-driven feedback loops to pinpoint and resolve bottlenecks and keep pace with evolving user needs.
Feed a Blossoming Relationships With Data-Driven Insights
Onboarding is just the start. Next comes nurturing and trust building. To assist in that endeavor, FIs need only turn to their data—with a strategy in place, of course.
When applied strategically, data analytics can reveal key patterns. Think of items like which acquisition channels generate the highest-value accounts, or application drop off points. These insights are crucial to building a proactive rather than reactive engagement strategy, helping FIs anticipate needs as they arise.
Yet 51% of financial professionals cite system integration as the largest barrier to robust data analytics. Separate systems for core banking, loan origination, marketing automation, and other major operations can drastically hamper complete data availability. In turn, these data silos cost FIs cross-sell opportunities, decisioning time, and consumer satisfaction, not to mention revenue.
A unified data strategy backed by integrated technology is vital to digital transformation in banking. It allows for more holistic analytics, better cross-team collaboration, and the ability to move at market pace. It also paves the way for behavioral segmentation and predictive analytics. These are critical for anticipating consumer needs and building feedback loops to optimize operations.
Use Those Insights To Craft Personalized Outreach
Consumers are willing to share their data. In return, they expect meaningful, relevant experiences that make their financial lives easier. Delivering on that expectation builds loyalty and a competitive advantage, as consumers trust that their FI knows and values them.
To demonstrate this deep understanding, FIs need to channel their 360-degree insights into personalized engagement. That means replacing generic, mass campaigns with dynamic, insights-driven, multi-channel experiences tailored to each consumer’s specific profile.
Alongside this, using insights to identify and act on opportunities—from loan maturity to re-engaging abandoned applications—is key. After all, when outreach aligns with life context and behavioral intent, it stops feeling like marketing. Instead, it starts functioning as a service, positioning FIs as true financial partners.
AI can support FIs in delivering this personalization at scale. By analyzing thousands of data points in seconds, it can predict the highest-impact content, timing, and channels for each individual.
Invest in an Integrated, Intelligent, & Secure Tech Stack
76% of FIs plan to increase technology spending over the next year. However, if systems can’t communicate, that investment is capped
A unified data strategy and deep insights begin with seamlessly integrated technology. Fragmented systems create inefficiencies from conflicting data points to compliance risks. These have a domino effect, too, slowing decision times, reducing competitiveness, and preventing growth opportunities.
A connected technology ecosystem empowers FIs to access, analyze, and act on data in real time. This empowers faster loan underwriting, expedited campaign launches, and even more detailed performance metric review, unlocking:
- Faster loan processing, account approvals, and credit decisions.
- Operational transparency through real-time dashboards and performance reporting.
- Scalability and flexibility with easier addition of trusted technology partners, fraud mitigations tools, and analytics solutions as needs evolve.
- Consistent consumer experiences across all channels.
MeridianLink One: Effective Technology Powering Effective Engagement Strategies
It’s time to reach across generations with effective, efficient, and personalized service.
The integrated MeridianLink® One platform connects digital lending, account opening, marketing automation, and analytics in real time to help institutions like yours:
- Accelerate applications with touchless workflows.
- Reach and support applicants anywhere.
- Grow lending and deposits faster.
- Recover more abandoned applications.
- Create and control branded experiences.
- Connect to leading fraud and identity verification solutions.
Learn more about generational trends, strategies to navigate the digital transformation in banking, and how MeridianLink® is supporting those strategies.
Read the Meet Consumers Where They Click white paper for the complete breakdown and key insights.
