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Originally published in the ProSight™ Executive Report
By Denise Cox, Chief Customer Officer, MeridianLink
As we reach the midpoint of the year, it’s a natural moment for banks to pause, reflect, and reset. What successes can be built upon? Which challenges require a different approach? And how can banks continue driving financial growth, security, and value for their customers? Right now, that reflection is critical because expectations for financial services are changing fast, and, as someone who works closely with our customers every day, it’s clear we’re at a pivotal moment.
Deposit gathering and new customer growth are the top two concerns for bank executives this year. Meanwhile, Chime has captured the largest share of new checking accounts, the second-largest share of savings accounts, and has the highest percentage of customers who opened an account after considering multiple providers. Younger generations, representing one of the largest growth opportunities for financial institutions, are sending a clear message: service and experience are inseparable. For these customers, simplicity builds trust and personalization drives loyalty.
This isn’t a challenge for banks to just “manage” though. It’s an opportunity to lead. And it starts by rethinking how experiences are delivered both from the staff and customer perspective. An experience-led strategy is not about adding more touchpoints or technology; it is about creating interactions that feel purposeful, human, and simple.
From what I see working with many financial institutions today, that strategy comes to life in two critical ways.
1) Automate processes and decisioning to create confidence and capacity
Automation often gets framed as an efficiency play. But the most successful banks I see approach automation as a way to elevate the customer experience and empower their teams.
When processes rely on manual review, disconnected systems, or inconsistent decisioning, the experience breaks down on both sides. Customers wait longer, repeat steps, or feel uncertain about outcomes. Staff spend their time chasing documents, reconciling systems, and explaining delays—work that drains energy and misses opportunities instead of building relationships.
Experience-led institutions automate not to remove people from the process, but to ensure people can focus where they matter most.
Here are a few examples of what that looks like in practice:
- Decisioning rules that are consistent, transparent, and applied the same way every time.
- Automated workflows that move applications forward without handoffs or rework.
- Clear, predictable paths from application to funding, regardless of channel.
For customers, this creates confidence. They know what to expect, where they stand, and what comes next. For staff, it creates capacity. When routine decisions and follow-ups are automated, teams can spend more time on complex cases, coaching customers through decisions, and building trust.
Across our customer base we’re seeing this result in:
- Faster loan closings and quicker access to funds.
- Double-digit increases in automated approvals without sacrificing risk discipline.
- Meaningful gains in operational efficiency, allowing teams to scale without adding headcount.
When automation is done well, it fades into the background. What customers notice instead is a consistent, dependable experience, and that reliability is what builds trust.
2) Use data to deliver timely, personalized experiences at scale
Personalization isn’t just adding a customer’s name to a message. It’s about showing up with the right support at the right moment in the right channel, before friction turns into frustration.
The challenge I see most often is not a lack of data, but a lack of connection between it. Application behavior, account activity, lending history, and engagement signals often live in separate systems. When teams can’t see the full picture, they’re forced to rely on intuition or manual review to decide who needs outreach and when.
Experience-led banks take a different approach. They integrate data across systems and pair it with automation to turn insight into action, without putting more burden on staff.
Here’s what I consistently see our customers doing well:
- Spotting stalled applications or unfunded loans and responding with timely, relevant outreach.
- Using behavioral signals to understand when a customer is ready for a new account or loan.
- Meeting customers in the right channel, at the right moment in their journey.
When data drives the experience, engagement feels natural. Customers don’t feel chased; they feel supported. And staff aren’t guessing when to step in—the opportunity surfaces clearly for them.
That’s when results start to follow:
- Reduced application drop-offs
- Stronger funded-to-application ratios
- More staff time spent building relationships instead of tracking pipelines
This is where personalization becomes strategic. Not because it’s impressive, but because it’s effective for customers and for the people serving them.
Today, the most successful banks prove that efficiency and experience go hand in hand.
When people, processes, and technology are aligned, a strong experience stops being just an agenda item in the next meeting and actually becomes the way banks lead in the market. It’s a shift that changes how organizations operate: Customers feel understood and supported at the moments that matter most to them. Staff are free to do meaningful, relationship-driven work instead of managing workarounds. And leadership can focus on scaling growth without sacrificing efficiency, risk oversight, or customer trust.
Learn more about how MeridianLink helps banks turn experience into a scalable growth strategy.
