Banks Are Rethinking Customer Loyalty in the Age of AI

Customers now have more ways to find financial information, compare providers and manage their money, raising the stakes for banks competing to build lasting relationships. As technology gives them more choice and access to personalized financial guidance, traditional advantages such as familiarity, reputation and the inconvenience of switching may carry less weight than they once did.

Members of the Senior Executive FinTech Think Tank bring experience across banking, payments, financial technology, investing and AI to this evolving challenge. Their perspectives point to a common imperative: Banks can use AI to make interactions faster and more personalized, but lasting customer relationships will depend on whether the technology delivers genuine value, earns trust and helps customers make better financial decisions.

Recent industry research underscores the urgency. McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review 2025 reports that consumers have become more digital and less loyal as AI, aggregators and other intermediaries reshape how they choose financial providers. Banks therefore face a higher standard, with growing pressure to compete not simply on products, but on the value they provide throughout the customer relationship.

“Banks already know more about how people spend their money than almost anyone. The question is whether they use that to actually help someone spend well, or simply to sell them the next thing.”

– Jordan Glazier, Founder and CEO of Wildfire Systems

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Loyalty Depends on Whose Interests AI Serves

Jordan Glazier, Founder and CEO of Wildfire Systems, sees a fundamental problem with the way banks have traditionally defined loyalty. Wildfire Systems provides commerce intelligence technology that powers white-label shopping rewards and retail media programs, giving Glazier direct experience with how financial institutions use customer behavior and transaction data to drive engagement.

“Banking loyalty is often measured by the number of bank products a customer has. But today, customers judge their relationship with a bank, and thus their willingness to buy into multiple products, on whether the bank’s read on their spending works for them, not just for the bank.”

Having access to detailed customer data gives banks an advantage, but that advantage depends on how they use it.

“Banks already know more about how people spend their money than almost anyone. The question is whether they use that to actually help someone spend well, or to sell them the next thing.”

That distinction becomes especially consequential when AI moves beyond recommending products and begins influencing financial decisions or taking action on a customer’s behalf. An irrelevant promotional offer can be ignored. An AI recommendation involving someone’s money carries considerably greater consequences.

“Most banks default to upsells and offers dressed up as personalization. That’s always mattered, but it becomes incredibly important once AI starts acting on someone’s behalf, because now there’s real money at stake behind the recommendation, not just a banner someone can ignore.”

That concern is of growing importance as banks look for ways to use AI without making customer relationships feel even more transactional. Accenture’s Global Banking Consumer Study 2025 found that 73% of customers engage with multiple banks beyond their primary institution. Based on an analysis of 49,300 customers across 39 countries, the study concludes that banks need to move beyond transactional relationships and focus on building stronger customer advocacy. It identifies trust, personalization, customer service and competitive benefits as key drivers of that advocacy.

The research reinforces Glazier’s larger point: Technology and personalization can strengthen a relationship, but only when customers feel the bank is using its knowledge to create value for them rather than simply presenting another sales opportunity.

“The second a bank’s read on your spending stops feeling like it’s actually for you, it’s no longer trusted, and the second they’ve got an AI that can route around the bank entirely, they will.”

That possibility changes the competitive equation. In an AI-driven marketplace, customers may have more ways to obtain recommendations, compare products and manage financial decisions outside their primary banking relationship. Loyalty, therefore, cannot depend solely on making it inconvenient to leave.

The stronger opportunity is to make staying genuinely valuable.

“Banks are still confusing retention with loyalty. A customer staying for 10 years, holding several products or rarely switching does not necessarily mean they feel understood or valued.”

– Tamara Kostova, Founder and CEO of AllVesta

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Move From Product Personalization to Relationship Intelligence

Where Glazier focuses on how banks use customer data, Tamara Kostova asks what that data should help them understand.

Kostova is Founder and CEO of AllVesta, which is building a behavioral intelligence layer for retail investing. The company uses AI-powered behavioral insights and personalized journeys to help financial institutions understand the confidence gaps, decision patterns and behavioral barriers that can prevent people from investing. With more than 20 years of experience across capital markets, banking and financial technology, Kostova has built, scaled and exited an international wealthtech company and now focuses on how AI can make finance more human and inclusive.

Her starting point is a distinction that traditional banking metrics can obscure.

“Banks are still confusing retention with loyalty. A customer staying for 10 years, holding several products or rarely switching does not necessarily mean they feel understood or valued.”

A customer may remain because changing banks is inconvenient, because of existing financial arrangements or simply because there has not yet been a compelling reason to move. None of those circumstances necessarily represents trust or emotional commitment.

“In the age of AI, loyalty will become much harder to earn through products alone,” Kostova says. “Customers will increasingly expect their bank to understand not only what they own and transact, but what they are trying to achieve, where they lack confidence and when they need support.”

The shift means looking beyond the next product a customer might buy to what they currently need.

“This creates an opportunity to move from product personalization to relationship intelligence: using AI to understand behavior, context and intent and translate that into timely, meaningful guidance.”

That shift changes what banks should optimize for.

“But there is a critical distinction. AI used primarily to optimize the next product sale may increase conversion without building loyalty. AI that helps customers make better decisions can create something much more valuable: trust.”

That customer-first approach is gaining support from recent consumer research. Mastercard’s 2026 research on AI and open finance found that consumers are increasingly open to AI assistance with their finances, particularly when it helps them identify savings opportunities or better financial products. At the same time, the research highlights trust, transparency and responsible data practices as essential to making personalization work.

Kostova’s recommendation comes down to a simple reframing:

“The banks that win will shift from asking, ‘What can we sell this customer next?’ to ‘What does this customer need next?’”

That question offers a practical test for any AI strategy. If a bank cannot clearly explain how an AI-powered recommendation benefits the customer, it may be generating short-term activity without strengthening the relationship underneath it.

“AI raises the bar even further because customers now expect instant answers, personalized recommendations and proactive service.”

– Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc.

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Combine AI Speed With Human Support

Kopelman’s perspective reinforces another important part of the equation: using AI to strengthen customer relationships without losing the human support customers still value. Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc., brings extensive experience in technology and payments, giving him a close view of how quickly digital expectations are reshaping financial services.

“Banks often assume customer loyalty is built on longevity, branch relationships, or the inconvenience of switching. That is changing quickly.”

Competition is no longer limited to the bank across town. Online banks, fintech companies and digital platforms have created alternatives designed around speed, convenience and competitive pricing.

“Online banks and fintech platforms are taking business away from traditional brick-and-mortar institutions by offering faster service, better digital experiences and more competitive rates on savings, money market accounts and CDs.”

Customers accustomed to immediate digital responses increasingly expect their financial providers to anticipate needs and resolve routine issues without unnecessary friction.

“AI raises the bar even further because customers now expect instant answers, personalized recommendations and proactive service.”

Kopelman sees limits to automation, especially when customers need knowledgeable human support.

“Traditional banks need to compete on speed, pricing, technology and transparency—not just reputation.”

Deloitte’s research on AI banking chatbots reflects the importance of that balance. Its 2025 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. bank customers found that while chatbots are widespread, many still struggle to earn trust and satisfaction when customers need meaningful help. The research concludes that the next generation of banking AI must move beyond basic automation to build confidence and improve the end-to-end customer experience.

“The winners will use AI to improve service while still providing knowledgeable human support when customers need it.”

That balance becomes particularly important as financial interactions grow more complex. Customers may welcome AI when it provides speed, convenience and useful information, but they may still want human expertise when a problem involves judgment, uncertainty or significant financial consequences.

Recent EY research on consumer trust in banking similarly finds that consumers increasingly want digitally enabled and personalized interactions while viewing trust as a critical foundation for the relationship.

For banks, the lesson is not that every interaction requires a person. It is that loyalty can suffer when technology becomes the barrier between customers and the help they need.

Where Banks Should Focus Next

Taken together, the perspectives point to three practical priorities for banks navigating AI-driven changes in customer behavior.

• Use customer data to create meaningful value. Personalization should help people spend, save and make decisions more effectively rather than merely disguise an upsell as a recommendation.
• Measure loyalty by understanding and trust, not just retention. Product ownership and account longevity can be useful metrics, but they do not necessarily reveal whether customers feel valued or supported.
• Pair AI efficiency with accessible human expertise. Technology should speed up routine interactions while ensuring knowledgeable support remains available when customers face more complex or consequential decisions.

Loyalty Will Have to Be Earned Again

AI is giving banks more information about their customers and more powerful ways to act on that information. But greater technological capability does not automatically produce greater loyalty. In some cases, it may reveal whether a bank’s definition of personalization is serving the institution more effectively than the customer.

The banks best positioned to earn lasting loyalty will be those that use AI to become more useful, more responsive and more trustworthy. The future advantage may not belong to the institution with the most sophisticated recommendation engine. It may belong to the one whose customers consistently feel that its technology is working for them.