The Road to Personalization: The Consumer Journey Decoded

Welcome and Housekeeping  

Matt Schmid 

00:18 – 04:17 

Well, everyone, we will get started in a moment here. Thanks for, joining us today, but we’re going to wait for some additional folks to, come on. 

We’ve got a midsized crew today. So just hang in there. 

Thanks. Again, we’re just waiting for some more folks to, to trickle in here. 

And, Okay. Hello, and thank you for joining us today, for our webinar, the road to personalization, the consumer journey decoded. 

I’m Matt Schmidt, a member of the Meridian Link Product Marketing team, and I’ll be your moderator for today’s event. Joining me as producer is Raven Boykins on our digital team. 

Few housekeeping notes before we get started. Today’s session will be recorded. 

If you object, please disconnect at this time. We encourage you to submit questions throughout the webinar using the Q and A option in the webinar dashboard. 

We’ll get to as many of your questions as possible as time permits. And follow-up as needed. 

And lastly, you’ll get an email with a link to review this webinar on demand And, of course, share with your colleagues to see our our standard, disclaimer here. So today, we tag along on a journey with our fictional consumer Avery. 

Will be guided by Joe Murn, director of product management and MeridianLink, and Lauren Snow, director of business consulting practice also at MeridianLink. Lauren and Joe will discuss and show just how personalized banking can evolve with your financial institution and your consumer from the first accounts all the way through retirement. 

As Joel explained a bit more through Avery’s story, we’ll explore the power of data driven personalization and get into the challenges this presents. And then we’ll see how technology can bridge current gaps. 

And finally, we’ll peek into the future of banking as it relates to personalization. So before we get going, we’re going to start off with a quick poll. 

And then, Joe, I’m going to be handing it over to you. The poll will be up for a little bit here, and then Joe will take over. 

Understanding the Consumer Journey 

Joseph Mearn 

04:17 – 04:44 

Alright. Thanks, Matt. 

And thank you all for joining us today. So Lauren, question for you to count us off here. 

When we look at rid of the current marketplace, you know, what trends are you seeing that the You know, banks and credit unions need to start paying closer attention to, to really help Avi along her buyer journey to support that personalization. 

Lauren Snow 

04:44 – 07:19 

Sure. Thanks, Joe. 

So I think when it comes to paying closer attention to personalization, opportunities for that consumer buyer journey, it really starts with consumer expectations. So as we know, there is a rise in consumer expectations to having tailored banking experiences similar to how consumers are experiencing personalization in other areas of their life, whether it’s purchases on Amazon, or their, Netflix preferences, etcetera. 

It’s about that consumer expectation to have a tailored experience no matter what it is, including banking. Additionally, there’s an increase, of course, in digital banking adoption post pandemic. 

So emphasis on sort of the ease of their experience, and that personalization. Kind of the difference between that physical and digital experience is, you know, an part of that expectation as well. 

Furthermore, I believe that we’re seeing of course competition from other fintechs offering innovative consumer centric products and services. So it’s really important to stay, up ahead of that or in line with that. 

And then, you know, further data privacy regulations are pushing for ethical use of that consumer data. And personalization. 

So those are some things we’re talking about. We’re thinking about, again, paying closer attention to having, you know, meeting your consumers at the right place at the right time balancing that with the right level of privacy so that your members don’t feel, invaded that you’re offering them something that’s appropriate and not intrusive. 

And again, you know, when we’re talking about right place, right time, personalization, nothing like offering, you know, the wrong product at the wrong time. I’m thinking about, you know, that consumer that receives an offer for an automobile loan weeks after they already got a loan. 

So I think it’s really important to think about those items when we’re talking about personalization and the journey that consumers have. Joe, any thoughts on that? 

Joseph Mearn 

07:19 – 07:26 

Communication, right, digital versus direct mail piece. Do you think that’s important in the kind of personalization journey? 

Lauren Snow 

07:26 – 07:58 

Yeah. I think it’s important. 

It’s kind of, you know, twofold. I like multichannel approach because you have the opportunity to hit members and communication in multiple ways. 

So you may be able to they have can have a different experience, but it is important to know that you know, a consumer may respond differently with digital versus physical as well. So capturing that information, their preference, and speaking to them as they’d like to be communicated to, I think, is really important too. 

Joseph Mearn 

07:58 – 08:44 

Yeah. Very important during these kind of life financial moments, especially in times of need and maybe when there’s some kind of financial impact or stress happening. 

So, great to hear your thoughts there. Kind of moving on to next question here where we kind of look at, you know, understanding the consumer, during that buyer journey and knowing how close you work with Financial Institutions, and some of the strategies and initiatives that they have in place. 

Maybe, you know, you could tell us a little bit more and kind of walk us through how, financial institutions today are thinking about it and maybe, you know, how that aligns with some of the life stages of the consumer during their journey. 

Lauren Snow 

08:44 – 10:01 

Sure. Sure. 

So we like to think about, you know, interacting with a consumer during their journey in a couple of different ways. So we’d like to think about how we’re going to acquire these consumer relationships, how we’re going to activate and onboard them, how are we going to engage them and cross sell them, So, you know, certainly, the acquisition side is going to be where we spot an opportunity, for new potential consumers, at the right time in their life. 

Activating is, you know, once we have that new relationship you know, ensuring that they’re starting to use the services tied to those, new relationships that they’ve opened engaging them, meaning, you know, having, of course, those timely communications, and make sure that they feel valued under stood, you’re retaining their business, and then, of course, further cross selling them into watching for those additional suitable products that meet their needs, depending on what’s going on in their life. 

Personalization Strategies 

Joseph Mearn 

10:01 – 10:18 

Do you see any, like, kind of trends with some of the FIs today? Like, where are they focusing any particular area? Or are they kind of balanced across the, you know, ease, swim lanes really based off of what they see from the consumers. 

Lauren Snow 

10:18 – 11:25 

It really depends on what’s going on at your financial institution. I mean, I’d like to say it’s a balance. 

However, you know, some financial institutions need to, you know, heavy cross sell in deposits versus loans or wherever it may be. Others are folk have an acquisition focus or they’re trying to activate an onboard and retain their existing, consumer base. 

So you know, I think these are all areas of importance and none should be forgotten. I do I think that the balance of time and resources spent in each of them can really vary by institution because truth is every institution is pretty unique. 

And they all have different needs to address based on their balance sheet, what’s going on in their economy, and things like that. So you know, these are the types of initiatives we work with clients on every day. 

Again, the percentage of focus, will depend by institution. I’m hoping that makes sense, Joe. 

Joseph Mearn 

11:25 – 12:11 

You know, I think understanding the, you know, where the consumer is in their buy and journey. I think it’s very important to know where they are in their in their buy and journey, which I think we kind of the next area. 

We’re going to discuss here around how does data impact personalization, right, and so if we look at our persona here, Avery, who’s really navigating, through her financial journey, what role does data play and how financial institutions need to understand where a read is, right, where is she at in this specific point of time in her life, based off of some of the moments she may be going through and just how vital is this data in really shaping that personalized banking experience for her. 

Lauren Snow 

12:11 – 14:06 

Yeah. I think it’s really important, that, the financial institution that she has a relationship with understands her preferences, why she may make certain decisions. 

So it can allow for, making those customizations, recommendations to her experience. Is she starting a new job? Is she, saving for a car or a house? So you know, it’s important that we understand, what she’s going through, so that we can make the appropriate offer at the right time. 

And certainly, looking for buying signals, within the data that you a financial institution has on the person or even supplementing that data, to be able to have some foresight into what to expect and offer things that may be needed down the line, for this consumer, you know, further you know, the role of data and personalization, it’s certainly, again, about the, you know, targeted communications right time, right message, right channel, you know, getting into her, you know, her inbox, you know, when it’s relevant and will make sense and, the consumer is apt to take, the offer. So just some things, you know, we think about, you know, how important the data is because it will lead to, you know, success. 

Especially, you know, digging into the buying habits and things like that. Any other thing thinking on your side, Joe? 

Joseph Mearn 

14:06 – 15:11 

You know, institutions to really, you know, understand the consumer journey needs to, you know, look at 1st party data, but not just first party data, right, also add in other third party data to really augment it and build that from a sixty degree view of the consumer. So they’re not just focused on a specific area of that relationship. 

Right? What other, what type of wallet chair do they have with them, what other relationships do they have? I think we know that, you know, on average, consumers have, you know, I think typically just over 3 relationships with different financial institutions. So being able to understand that, right, and try to get better graphs on where that consumer is. 

I think it’s going to help from a personalization standpoint. So I think good point there. 

We know, like, everyone’s always looking for the next best product, you know, with changes in rates and rewards and fees. I think know, money is always looking to move and, using data to really personalize and tell that experience that becomes important. 

Lauren Snow 

15:11 – 16:12 

Yeah. I think that’s really great. 

I mean, the idea of 1st party data, right, we’re talking about core banking data. We’re talking about applicant data. 

Third party data from other sources to append, you know, lifestyle choices and preferences that is super important, like you’re mentioning, And then I also love the idea of, you know, created data. So if you’re executing, marketing campaigns against a consumer, what is the response? So, you know, they responded by email over direct mail or they responded for a program that had an incentive or, you know, cash or what, whatever it was you know, best rate or an awareness program, those elements of data that we you create by actually running a program, I think, also is super valuable. 

Challenges and Solutions  

Joseph Mearn 

16:12 – 16:39 

Personalization, very important in the buyer journey data, you know, data driven personalization, also very important. But with that, comes challenges, right? And so when it comes to, making the banking experience for a very more personal, What are the different hurdles out there that FIs are running into and that you may see with some of those, financial institutions that you work with personally? 

Lauren Snow 

16:39 – 19:12 

I’d say a couple of the big things, and this is actually kind of related to the poll question we asked was data integration. So piecing together sort of the puzzle of your consumer’s interactions with you. 

They’re buying signals. Other data sources. 

So sort of a lack of integration, I think, of data sources. Is a big hurdle. 

Certainly also, in personalization, sometimes consumers can be wary of how, how much you may know about them. So private see concern over personalization. 

So it’s important that your consumers understand or feel seen and understood, but we’re not overstepping a boundary, so that they feel watched. So, I mean, I think that’s the difference between seeing someone paying an auto loan elsewhere at a higher rate versus and communicating to them an a nice offer compared to saying, we know you’re paying X Y Z Financial Institution Y payment monthly. 

Right? So I think there’s a fine line of, something to be cautious there on the privacy personalization that And then also, you know, expectations with technology and keeping pace really important. You know, that we see as a technical, you know, hurdle that financial institutions have. 

But, you know, some things that we, tend to see, in terms of challenges. Again, it it’s on integration, the privacy, the data, even, resource gaps or skills I think is another concern, that we come across. 

You know, a lot of folks at, you know, your financial institution are wearing many hats and personalized marketing for you know, consumer journey is now another task, another project, another point of view, to address. So sometimes, you know, the lack of resources, whether it’s time skill capability, etcetera, can be a challenge as well. 

Joseph Mearn 

19:12 – 20:35 

Yeah. I’ve been done. 

Yeah. It’s used to be shown here. 

A lot of the times access to that data is, not available to everyone. Right? It’s siloed. 

It’s within specific business units. With access to it if it, you know, at times it’s not reliable. 

And it’s maybe unstructured, so they need to really put that process in to really structure that data which is going to allow them to really drive insights and you know, data is always valuable as the insights that you can drive from it, which is, I think a big concern that we see with a lot of these financial institutions out there today is, they, you know, struggle get an access to data, but once they have it, it it’s unlocking the potential of that data, to help really again drive that strategy. So, you know, say you get it, data, you get access to it. 

You’re able to do some things. How do you really measure, success with personalization. 

And how do you gauge if as Avery is is moving throughout her financial journey? How do you know if you’re meeting our expectations, personally? And then, you know, if you are, you know, how do you learn from data as well? 

Lauren Snow 

20:35 – 23:23 

Yeah. This is super interesting. 

I mean, this is really important. A lot of metrics that, you know, financial institutions may be wanting to track, but it’s having a hard time. 

I think, you know, measuring if you’re hitting them on these kinds of initiatives, are related to engagement rates. Right? So how engaged are your consumers with you, if they’ve been part of your marketing program and you’re providing them tailored offerings or tailored communications. 

Right? So are you primary financial institution? And how do you measure that? Right? Is it, you know, what is the depth and breadth of their relationship with you? So I think that’s really important to you know, get a hold of that data and assigning engagement levels to your consumers. Another way, of course, to measure is conversion rates. 

So if you were getting in front of your members about particular offers, you know, how likely are they to take the ask, right, compared to non personalized, programs. So looking for response and conversion rates to the initiatives. 

Consumer happiness, of course, satisfaction of your members in making sure, that you are consistent in asking if your members or consumers are satisfied with the products services and support they receive, at your financial institution and responding appropriately if needed. Measurement of lifetime value. 

So making some assumptions here really looking at the bigger picture where is a consumer, in their, life stage of their relationship with you, how much more mileage do they have to go and making some assumptions on that value, for the future and year to date or, you know, sort of life to date value based on what they’ve provided. But again, I think big level of measurement on you know, if you’re putting focus on personalization communications, is that engagement, that depth and breadth of your consumers relationships with you, do they consider you, primary financial institution are they clear that you are going to meet their needs at sort of each step of the game? 

Joseph Mearn 

23:23 – 24:38 

Yeah. That’s great. 

I think it comes back to from a from a measuring success to, you know, what was the strategy that was set forward, right, had did you at first, did you set up really key use cases that you wanted to track and measure you know, what are you trying to track for your financial institution from a key metric or strategic priority? And then start small, right? Think to 3 to 5 different scenarios. And then map really desired outcomes to those use cases. 

So if you’re trying to drive loan volume or deposits, or you want to grow members and be more personalized there, like, by what percentage? What am I really make it measurable to, those use cases that you set up and then figure out ways to optimize. So when you do don’t meet the market. 

You don’t hit those goals. What went wrong? What could you have done better? And get feedback from your consumers, I think that’s a great area to figure out how successful you are with personalization is by hearing from the consumers themselves and what they think of the different type of personalization efforts that you may have out there for them. 

So. 

Lauren Snow 

24:38 – 25:16 

Yeah. I think that’s great. 

I mean, I think some of the things we talked about, someone may, you know, we may call them more qualitative measurements. I think really important. 

Of course, there’s the quantitative ones, right, like the loan growth ratios and you know, interest income, deposit growth, etcetera. So, I mean, it’s I think it’s a combination of, you know, for the strategy you’ve set forward. 

Measuring sort of all the things, both qualitative, and quantitative measures. So Yeah. 

Customer Acquisition 

Joseph Mearn 

25:16 – 25:47 

I’m a great student. It was entered into kind of a new, phase during her financial journey here. 

And she’s looking for some new products, new offerings. How really crucial is it? Or financial institutions when acquiring her relationship and to expand their market share. 

We look at these and find these different opportunities of consumers within their kind of journey and what area they are and what kind of tactics can they take from an acquisition standpoint? 

Lauren Snow 

25:47 – 28:07 

Sure. Sure. 

I mean, when we think about acquisition, it’s a couple of different things. Right? So acquisition could be, you know, acquisition from the market space. 

So non existent relationships that we have that we want to grow. And so I just want to talk a little bit about that first. 

Right? So there’s ways to lean on partnerships, to identify market relationships that you can obtain, but you can also, leverage your existing relationships to find new market relationships. So you know, consumers with high level of engagement, create lookalike profiles of market prospects and acquire relationships that way. 

Or, leverage engagement levels also and ask your highly engaged relationships to refer their friends and family. Right? So acquiring from the market, you know, a couple of different things, but certainly leveraging partnerships to do that kind of thing might be valuable. 

But when we’re also talking about sort of the secondary point of view on acquisition. It’s, you know, existing relationships in a existing consumer relationships. 

And acquiring something new from them. So maybe it’s, you know, Avery has, a savings in CD. 

And, we want to spot, opportunity as she’s, you know, approaching college age or whatever it may be that she’ll need a checking account. And so being able to grow market share on checking accounts from existing members. 

Right? So just kind of, you know, leveraging, your data perhaps, you know, partnerships, for date to enhance data that you have, I think is really important And then certainly, you know, having, a tailored approach, to meet the evolving needs of the consumers as they enter new stages of their life, to, you know, start to grow and acquire new products, from them as well. Those are kind of some of the thoughts I’ve been thinking about, on the acquisition of the market share piece. 

So. 

Growing Existing Relationships  

Joseph Mearn 

28:07 – 28:32 

existing relationships that are happy with you and are most likely to become those really promoters to help really maybe drive some of that new relationship. It would it be something like a refer a friend program? And do you see that as something that financial institutions you work with are, looking into as a strategy to really acquire those new relationships and grow that market share? 

Lauren Snow 

28:32 – 29:16 

Yeah. I think it’s a step in the right direction. 

I mean, you know, it’s, of course, really hard to obtain new relationships from consumers that really don’t know who we are. Right? So if, we can leverage our promoters of existing relationships to grow market share. 

I think that’s a wise strategy, and we are seeing, more clients leverage that type of opportunity, to again, try to efficiently gain market share with existing relationships. So that’s we’re seeing a lot of that. 

Joseph Mearn 

29:16 – 29:50 

You acquired the Aries new relationship. So Aries now part of the financial institution. 

What other practices out there that are really going to make a difference with, showing Avery a nice smooth transition into this new relationship with this financial institution showing here that, you you know her needs, Darren, really the right time. With the right amount of tension and really make that, you know, personalized. 

And so what do we do from a, I guess, an onboarding perspective once you do get that relationship? 

Lauren Snow 

29:50 – 32:29 

Well, I think it’s really important, that there’s some, you know, of course, the experience is streamlined and it’s a digital application process so that it’s easy, to engage with the financial institution and grow the quantity and depth of relationships, that one would have. So of course limiting waiting through any paperwork, you know, being that digital focus, sets of tone really for that modern hassle free banking experience that we’re all expecting. 

So certainly that streamlined process. Warm, communications after, new relationships have been gained really an important thing to ensure that the member makes the most of her, new product in the services tied to them and certainly making sure that, we’re reaching, you know, the consumer early, from a new relationship that’s been gained and meeting them, where they’d like to be communicated to. 

Scaling and automating, you know, an onboarding process is important. And also tailoring it. 

Right? So not necessarily in a one size fits all. You know, all new relationships go through this series of communications, but all new relationships go through a series of communications dependent on what products or services that they’ve recently acquired. 

So, you know, it’s important to talk to someone in one manner for their newly opened consumer checking account compared to another, consumer that may have opened a new credit card. Or, taken a new automobile home. 

So kind of tailoring that onboarding experience, dependent on what the consumer has actually purchased, and that you want to activate. So, you know, scaling that, automating that, tailoring it, not a one size fits all, and, of course, timeliness. 

Of those communications and those touches, so that you can, you know, bring the consumer through to the next stage, of their buying journey. 

Joseph Mearn 

32:29 – 34:04 

Not once that does not fit all from an onboarding perspective, and maybe you all start your onboarding journey at the same starting point, but you know, not having to dedicate it. This is what’s going to happen to all of these consumers within the 1st 60 days and then not using data to really make decision trees throughout that 60 day process to say, okay, we were going to, we want to outreach and make sure that a new consumer that opens up a checking account sets up their direct deposit sets up their bill pay, but if they’ve already done so, I don’t want to communicate for them to do that, and so I want to understand them and make that message during that onboarding process more personalized to maybe look at next best product or maybe another financial need that they might have in there. 

So, I do like the data driven kind of personalization decision entry that happens prior to the onboarding program, but also during the onboarding program, because everyone’s going to start from a different starting path, and they’re going to end somewhere different as well. So. 

So now that we’ve got the Avery, we start a new relationship, and we started to on board, Arie, and her, relationship. How do we move her through the banking journey, right? And how does technological advancements help really transform, Avery through her financial journey during these, life moments? 

Lauren Snow 

34:04 – 35:36 

You know, I think it’s a bit of a, you know, making sure a strategy is in place for retention, reengagement tactics, automation, for, you know, the rules for next best product and that process, multichannel, certain certainly approach but, you know, it’s important that we are leveraging technology to automate decision making so that resources are efficiently leveraged, at a financial institution So really, I would say, you know, leveraging, you know, automations or, relationships that allow for, a better experience for the consumer and the staff to obtain the objectives that they’re trying to achieve. Certainly, again, meeting the consumers where they want to be. 

It’s been a lot of the themes of what we’ve been discussing. Personalization through data, you know, again, those preferences, understanding, leveraging technology and the data to, you know, look at buying signals, etcetera. 

So Really important, I would say mostly, like, you know, those areas I’d focus on. 

Technology That Supports Personalization  

Joseph Mearn 

35:36 – 36:24 

Strategy and having, part of, your data strategy is to look at partnerships. Right? How can partnerships help you. 

How can 3rd party, financial services and other tech providers maybe augment some of the areas that you might not be able to have in house from a tech support, in a perspective already. Right? How can 3rd party partnerships help you from a data driven perspective and maybe more easily allow you to identify those buying signals and really tap into, you know, the different financial moments as the consumers are really going through that journey. 

So, you know, value of partnerships, obviously, very important when it comes from a resource perspective there. 

Lauren Snow 

36:24 – 36:52 

Yeah. And the capability to integrate a variety of data sources, I think it’s really important, you know, to use technology to not be siloed in your view and how you communicate and what you offer, but to make sure that you’re equipped with as much, data that will allow for the, the best consumer experience, I’d say. 

Joseph Mearn 

36:52 – 37:34 

Excellent. Acquired, Amy. 

We onboarded her. We started to engage with with Avery and now we’re at a different point, her life journey and, you know, how do we spot some of these different opportunities and chances, for us to really meet the needs that you know, some of the signals might be at Avery’s given off right now. 

And are there different really, you know, cross selling strategies that you can look at to the consumers during this relationship? 

Lauren Snow 

37:34 – 39:29 

Yeah. I mean, we’ve talked about it sort of along the way, but it’s some, you know, leveraging insight from the data so those buying signals. 

So whether it’s, data you know, core process data. It’s application data. 

It’s appended data from third parties. Really kind of pulling those all in to make the appropriate offer. 

I’m thinking about you know, sometimes, we can leverage your existing data to uncover that Avery has an auto loan at another financial institution. And we could make her an offer to refinance that with us. 

However, we don’t have necessarily any insight to the length of term left, or you know, the rate she has, the balance, etcetera, we could leverage additional, third party data to only actually, you know, make her an offer if we know our, rate and term and her estimated payment is going to be better than what she has today. So I think that there’s, you know, making sure that we’re using the data, that can make the proper offer. 

And then, you know, like, in that, again, comes to having the proper timing. So if she’s paying an auto loan elsewhere, but she only has 6 months left. 

Maybe we’re not offering her something as a refinance, but maybe a purchase on her next automobile loan. So, you know, again, relevant data, making sure that we are leveraging that, making offers that, make sense. 

They’re timely and, of course, personalized, to what, your consumer may need. 

Joseph Mearn 

39:29 – 40:37 

Yeah. No. 

Kind of what we talked about earlier was knowing that these consumers have multiple relationships with many financial institutions, and they have a number of, accounts per household being able to get to that data from a cross selling perspective, I think, is very valuable where, you know, if we can see the different relationships that are held elsewhere, how can we then start to acquire. There was relationships in those, you know, products that are held elsewhere to really help drive, I think, in expand the existing, you know, wallet share, within is is very valuable. 

And it all comes with, again, that 1st party and that 3rd party data. Being able to have the right tools in place and partnerships and technology to make sense of that and to be quick. 

I think you talked a little bit about you know, frequency, right, and how frequent should these communications be, how often should customers we look in to, you know, execute on these strategies. 

Lauren Snow 

40:37 – 41:42 

Yeah. I think, you know, the timeliness and how often, you know, really is important, how often, you know, we’re communicating, personalized, you know, communications, it needs to be constant. 

But, you know, depending on what you’re trying to achieve, maybe even though she only has 6 months on her auto loan, and you’re making her a suggestion for future purchase, she doesn’t want to purchase. Right? So, watching to see a response. 

Maybe you make that offer at one point. It’s not taken. 

You 3 months later, it’s made again. It’s not taken. 

But maybe it could be taken 6 months thereafter. So, you know, just, making sure that you’re listening to response and, you know, making offers that align with buying signals and opportunities, I think. 

Joseph Mearn 

41:42 – 43:19 

We have another poll that we’re going to launch at the moment here. Let’s give it a couple more seconds for everyone to answer. 

Alright. So, as we come to a close today, you know, wanted to talk first about, you know, some future trends in in in personalization that we are, you know, about to see out there. 

As we looked at the journey that Avery took, I think there are there are better ways to help assist these consumers in their journey going forward. And that starts with, you know, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that are becoming available to really help define the and create new, I would say, wellness models, right, and score consumers based off of what they may be in the meat. 

Matt Schmid 

43:19 – 43:45 

Looks like we lost Joe. Oh, I’m here. 

Okay, everyone. Sorry for that, technical issue. 

We’re going to wait for Joe to come back, but oh, here’s Joe. Okay. 

Welcome back, Joe. 

MeridianLink Products and Services  

Joseph Mearn 

43:45 – 45:59 

Alright. Don’t know where I was dropped off there. 

So I’m just going to keep moving on here. Yep. 

So, lastly, you know, when we look at, you know, we talk about partnerships and, you know, we talk about what MeridianLink can provide today, along the consumer journey. And, you know, the our platform, when we talk about MeridianLink One, It’s a platform of innovative products that really span across the entire digital lending journey. 

That’s from deposit account opening. It’s for consumer and mortgage loan origination. 

It’s credit reporting. It’s data access and verification. 

Business consultant, all with, you know, data analytics, scoring, in collections, that come together to create this marine like one platform, but doesn’t just stop doesn’t just stop there with the actual solutions themselves. Right? All of these products today are wrapped with a strong layer of support and services. 

So, you know, depending on what point of that financial journey the consumer is currently going through. There’s a platform out there to support that. 

Again, right, account opening, someone falls into delinquency. There’s a collection platform, but services and support are there as well to really help, support you know, during those times of needs there. 

So, and it’s it takes time. Right? There’s it’s an agile process. 

It’s a road map. It’s a journey, and start small. 

And you were not just going to get to the you know, very end solution, and be able to do everything all at once. But, you know, there are, again, partnerships and services out there to really help support, financial institutions during these really, you know, critical times of knowing the consumer, knowing where they are in the buyer journey and using that data driven personalization efforts there. 

So And with that, we’re going to on now. Thank you Q And A. 

Matt Schmid 

45:59 – 46:47 

Okay. That was excellent. 

Thanks everyone for your patience with with some of our technical issues. You never know where those things are going to pop up. 

And thanks, Lauren and Joe. It was great to, learn how personalization can vastly improve the consumer experience. 

And we’ve got some questions that have come in. I hope we can get to them. 

Let’s see here. The first question here We’ve got 2. 

This one might take us a while, though. That is How does Meridian Link help its clients solve, for these personalization challenges that you were reviewing across this? This, this presentation. 

Joseph Mearn 

46:47 – 48:00 

Yeah. I can I can start with that one? Hopefully, it’ll drop again. 

But I think it goes back to really, kind of what I was just mentioning around, Marina Link 1. Right? And having some type of solution out there no matter what part of the journey they’re in, right, whether it’s their first checking account, whether they need to build credit, and open up a, credit card, whether they need to get a vehicle loan to go for their first job or they want to you know, open up a new mortgage for a first time buyer. 

Right? It’s having all those solutions to help them during those financial moments, but it’s really critical. And I think what the most important part is is it’s data driven, right, and it’s taken the data from each one of those journeys bringing it together and really driving those insights out of it, right, leveraging our our BI platform and capabilities to really kind of drive home and use, again, not just that first party data, but third party data as well to build that 360 degree relationship. 

And then know where that consumer is, during their buyer journey. 

Lauren Snow 

48:00 – 48:36 

No. That sounds really great. 

I agree, you know, making sure that we’re using that data for decision making and the proper communications and offers to the consumers so that, you’re speaking with them relevantly and they see you as, a trusted entity, someone that understands and knows what they may need and, again, can then become a promoter of you and help to grow your market share. 

Matt Schmid 

48:36 – 49:10 

Great. So here’s another one, and I’m going to it’s a it’s a request for examples, and I’ll probably swap out the word example for illustration. 

So can you give us illustrations of how personalization increases someone like Avery’s trust and loyalty rewards, I’m sorry, loyalty towards the bank. Or a credit union in this case. 

So just how personalization increases that trust. Illustrations. 

Joseph Mearn 

49:10 – 50:17 

Yeah. Yeah. 

I think there’s a I think there’s a couple ways. Right? It’s, it’s knowing where they are and kind of what their behaviors, are taking place. 

And if you think about the example of targeting a consumer for a offer such as maybe a credit card or vehicle loan when you know, in the last 2 weeks, they’ve already come into a branch and open up that product with you. And, you know, you’re not you’re not showing that consumer that you know them. 

You’re not leveraging their behavior to make the right decision. And it’s getting into that transactional relationship and third party data, I think, which helps Again, target the right group of consumers for offers. 

And so you’re not it’s not just a blanket. Let’s target everyone. 

Right? You’re only targeting those consumers where they are in that financial journey, which leads to, I think, a higher conversion rate through that, targeting perspective, which helps from a from a budget, and from a return on investment side. 

Lauren Snow 

50:17 – 51:26 

Yes. I agree. 

I mean, I think there is a time and a place for blanket marketing. Right? You have a wonderful rate and product you want to make sure you’re sort of shouting that from the root rooftops and gaining share where you can, but I also think that you know, the return on sending a personalized communication about that offer to one of your consumers. 

Or to a group of your consumers that fit similar buying signals, will yield a higher return for that. So I mean, there’s definitely a time and a place, for sort of blanket or sort of widespread marketing, but those targeted initiatives will help to drive return. 

And again, it’s about that consumer perception that you know where they are, what they need, and there’s that sort of positive, vibe that they’re putting in the market as well about their relationship with you. So I think there’s a lot of benefits to that. 

Matt Schmid 

51:26 – 51:50 

Okay. That’s great. 

That rounds out our q and a. So thank you for everyone participating in today’s webinar. 

And a special thanks to our presenters, Lauren and Joe. As a reminder, you’ll receive an email with the link to the on demand recording for today’s session. 

And that now concludes our webinar today. And, again, thanks for.