Press Release

October 30, 2024

Study Finds Most Consumers View Bank Marketing as Impersonal and Unengaging

Motivation AI Company Persado Reveals 45% of Consumers Would Switch Banks For More Personalized Experiences 

NEW YORK, NY — October 30, 2024 — A new study reveals banks are not meeting the personalization expectations of U.S. consumers, with 45% of consumers surveyed saying they would consider switching banks for one that delivers more personalized digital experiences. Conducted by Researchscape and commissioned by Motivation Artificial Intelligence (AI) company Persado, the online survey of 1,061 U.S. adults ages 18 and older with at least one bank account was fielded August 16-20, 2024. The study also asked consumers whether it’s acceptable for banks to use AI to help understand their needs and preferences, with 75% saying “yes.” 

The study findings are incorporated into a newly-published Persado report, The State of AI in Financial Services Marketing: Expectations, Uses, & Impact, which details the top AI use cases for creating personalized and engaging communications that build loyalty, including several real-world success stories.

Unmet Expectations Span Generations

Overall, the study revealed consumers’ desire to be better known by their primary banks, as reflected in personalized marketing communications. In fact, 45% of respondents believe their primary bank knows them only “somewhat, hardly, or not at all.” The survey also found:

  • Out-of-touch — 50% of all respondents feel bank communications are formal, impersonal, dated, and out-of-touch.
  • Impersonal — More than half (54%) of all respondents said the written communications from their banks were “somewhat, hardly, or not at all” personalized to their needs and preferences. Of the Baby Boomer consumers surveyed, 72% agreed their bank’s written communications aren’t personalized enough, and of the Gen X consumers surveyed, 59% felt the same way.
  • Irrelevant — 39% of all respondents think the written communications from their banks are “somewhat, hardly, or not at all” relevant. Of the Baby Boomers surveyed, 55% concurred.
  • Unengaging — Two-thirds of all respondents (66%) believe the written communications from their primary bank are “somewhat, hardly or not at all” emotionally engaging; and 85% of Baby Boomers, 73% of Gen X, 60% of millennials, and 46% of Gen Z consumers agree.
  • Untrusted — When asked how often the content used in communications positively influenced their trust in the banks, 45% of consumers said “sometimes, rarely, or never.”
A study conducted by Researchscape and commissioned by Persado found 45% of consumers (on average) would consider switching banks for one that they felt knew them better and provided a more personalized digital experience. The percentage grows, exceeding 50%, for key demographics including
Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X.

Opportunities to Improve

The study also asked consumers whether they think it’s acceptable for banks to use AI to help understand their needs and preferences, with 75% saying yes. 

Innovating digital products to meet consumers’ needs is another area for improvement for banks. According to the survey, 74% of consumers use their bank’s digital and mobile functions either daily or a couple of times a week—but they increasingly also use apps like Venmo, Cash, and Zelle. Fifty-five percent of respondents use those apps more than their primary bank’s web or mobile apps, citing several reasons: they make it easier to send money to people without needing their bank details (59%); enable faster transactions (57%); and are more convenient for small, frequent transactions (47%). 

Emotion-Informed Personalization Drives Results

The platform has driven more than $2.5 billion in additional incremental revenue in the past five years for large financial services organizations collectively, including brands such as Ally Bank and Chase.

Persado Motivation AI is a proven enterprise marketing solution comprising machine learning, large language model (LLM), and application layers, enabling marketers to generate and optimize content across platforms. Grounded in a deep knowledge base of marketing communications performance data, the platform outperforms content created by humans alone, or generalized LLMs, 96% of the time.

“Our customers apply Motivation AI to drive better experiences and growth across journeys, from opening new accounts to growing deposits, cross-selling, customer engagement, and retention. Financial services also gain peace of mind with the platform’s governance frameworks that ensure ethical, transparent, and compliant AI usage,” added Baciu.

About Persado
The Persado Motivation AI platform uses advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning transformer models to understand copy intent and create messages that motivate consumer action. Unlike large language models (LLMs), which learn from the wide internet, Persado’s AI is trained on a specialized dataset of real interaction and transaction data from 1.2 billion consumers, which measures and refine language, emotional response, and engagement—enabling enterprise marketers to drive significant business value. Eight of the 10 largest U.S. banks, 6 of the 7 top credit card issuers, and myriad iconic brands, including Ally Bank, Chase, Kate Spade, Marks & Spencer, and Verizon, trust Persado to engage customers across their journey, from acquisition to loyalty.

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