24 de April de 2025
Over the past decade, banks have invested trillions in digital transformation. But in doing so, many have lost something essential: the emotional connection with their customers. Today, convenience is expected. What sets financial institutions apart is their ability to understand and serve each individual on a personal level. With AI-driven personalization in banking, a truly personalized, real-time experience is now possible at scale.
Customer advocacy isn’t just about satisfaction. It’s about inspiring loyalty so deep that customers recommend their bank to others and consolidate more of their financial lives with it. According to the Banking Consumer Study, advocates hold 17% more products with their main bank and allocate up to 30% more of their wallet to that relationship. The payoff is massive; banks in the top 20% for advocacy grew revenues 1.7 times faster from 2019 to 2023, and in North America, the advantage reached 2.6x.
GenAI is the engine behind that kind of advocacy. It enables institutions to listen, remember, anticipate, and respond across every channel and in the exact context of each customer’s financial journey.
Despite being among the most trusted institutions, banks still face skepticism about AI. 84% of customers worry about how their data is used, and only 26% want banks to use AI extensively. To move forward, AI-driven personalization in banking must become transparent. Customers need to feel they’re in control, and banks must show that AI-driven recommendations serve the customer’s best interest, not just the bank’s.
Turning artificial intelligence into trusted intelligence starts by mirroring moves from other industries. Spotify, for example, provides users with tools like “Exclude from Your Taste Profile” to control the influence of AI. Banks should do the same: build privacy centers, explain how algorithms work, and offer opt-in experiences that earn trust over time.
Personalization is not about pushing the next-best product. It’s about remembering what matters. That means moving beyond static profiles and building a real-time, digital memory for each customer, capturing behaviors, preferences, and feedback across touchpoints.
Banks like Monzo already apply this logic. Using behavioral and attitudinal segmentation, they’ve designed products that resonate deeply with specific groups, like first-time investors or budgeting-focused users.
GenAI enables traditional institutions to catch up, allowing them to build adaptive and evolving profiles that fuel continuous, personalized engagement. When done right, personalization becomes an ongoing conversation, not a one-off interaction.
Only 21% of bank executives see customer service as a value driver, yet it’s the second most crucial factor for advocacy. The disconnect is apparent and costly. While apps rank highest in satisfaction, they’re used mainly for transactions. Complex needs, like loans or disputes, still require seamless handoffs between digital and human touchpoints.
GenAI can help banks pick up conversations where customers left off, eliminating frustration and repetition. AI-driven personalization in banking ensures that even service channels become tools for relevance, empathy, and relationship-building, not just efficiency.
Forget loyalty points alone. Customers want rewards that reflect their behavior and the depth of their relationship with the brand. Yet 60% of customers say they want relationship-based rewards, and only 45% are satisfied.
Real-time, contextual benefits, like Capital One’s automated coupon tool or Al Rajhi’s gamified savings account, create emotional engagement and reinforce positive habits. Meanwhile, RBC’s Avion Rewards program recognizes customers holistically, rewarding them for their full portfolio of products, not just isolated transactions.
In this model, personalization isn’t just about knowing your customer; it’s about understanding their needs and preferences. It’s about consistently showing them that they matter.
Personalization is no longer a feature. It’s a foundation. And with GenAI, banks can finally deliver it at scale, creating the kind of emotional loyalty that digital convenience alone can’t achieve.
The data is precise: personalization fuels advocacy, and advocacy drives growth. Banks that invest now will build deeper relationships, unlock new revenue streams, and stand out in a sea of sameness. This is the new competitive frontier and it’s personal.
At Luby, we help financial institutions bring AI-driven personalization to life in banking. If your team is ready to transform customer relationships and lead through innovation, talk to us. We’ll show you how to turn GenAI into growth.
