For years, banks have relied on customer loyalty through competitive rates, modern apps, and fee-free banking. But in an increasingly commoditized market, that’s not enough. Customers are diversifying, with nearly three in four having relationships with more than one bank and one-third already using digital banks as their primary or secondary institution.

What’s driving growth today? Advocacy. According to the Banking Consumer Study 2025, banks with the highest levels of active customer advocacy grow 1.7x faster than those with the lowest levels. We’re not just talking about satisfied customers, but also brand advocates—customers who recommend, purchase more products, and concentrate their financial lives with a single bank.

The customer loyalty illusion

Digital transformation has been massive. Since 2011, banks have invested over $2.8 trillion in new technologies to deliver speed and convenience. This has created functional but distant experiences. Everyone’s app works, and everyone offers instant transfers. Differentiation is vanishing.

Yet, customer loyalty metrics can be misleading. Many banks still rely on retention rates, even though 61% of customers have stayed with their main bank for seven years or more without necessarily engaging or advocating for it. These “lazy loyalists” may stick around but don’t drive growth.

Advocacy pays off

Advocates aren’t only more vocal; they are more valuable. Compared to the average customer, advocates:

• Hold 17% more products with their primary bank
• Allocate up to 30% more of their financial portfolio
• Boost revenue growth by up to 2.6x in North America 

The link between advocacy and performance is strong across all regions. The path to advocacy starts with four expectations: Reassure me, Remember me, Delight me, and Reward me.

From transactions to customer loyalty

Here’s how this translates into practice:

• Reassure me: Transparency and relevance build trust. Today, 84% of customers are concerned about how their data is used, and only 26% are comfortable using AI for personalization. Trust is in the details, so show how AI works in favor of the customer, not just the institution.
• Remember me: Personalization goes beyond automated offers. Although 72% of customers say that personalization influences their choice of bank, only 3% use the tools offered. The problem is not in the technology but in how it is applied.
• Delight me: Service still matters. Even in a digital world, 65% of customers—across all generations—still see physical branches as symbols of solidity. Only 21% of bank executives see service as a lever of value when, in fact, it is one of the main sources of advocacy.
• Reward me: Interest and fees do not create a connection. Only 47% of customers know the yield on their savings. What engages them are personalized rewards, which value the relationship over time and recognize positive behavior.

Opportunity for banks and techs

The Top 10 Banking Trends 2025 report reinforces that we are entering a new era of hyper-personalization and AI-enhanced trust. This isn’t just for traditional banks; fintech, big tech, and digital platforms are already positioning themselves to capture this new type of customer loyalty.

The technology is ready. With generative AI, contextual automation, and more modular architectures, it’s never been easier to bring the “human side” back into digital.

Where Luby fits into the equation

At Luby, we help financial institutions go beyond digital efficiency. We create solutions that make the journey more intelligent, integrated, and human, from mobile banking to data architecture, including AI applied to channels, personalization, and service orchestration.

Because in the end, it’s not about having the fastest app. It’s about being the bank that customers want to recommend.

Want to build experiences that generate real growth? Talk to us.