Customer Loyalty in 2014: It Takes More Than a Toaster

In the old days, attracting banking customers was easy: Offer a toaster or S&H Green Stamps in exchange for opening a checking account or buying a certificate of deposit.

Those promotions worked to some extent, although they didn’t necessarily create loyalty. Just ask the adult child cleaning up their parents’ estates only to find 13 different bank accounts and 30 different CDs scattered at banking institutions around town (not to mention some never-used toasters in the back of a closet).

That strategy doesn’t work at all in 2014, as banks must invest in technologies that not only appeal to affluent customers — who are the most profitable — but also to tech-savvy Generation Y customers, who are still forming brand loyalties. Despite the differences in those two groups of customers, there is one similarity: The longer and deeper the relationships are, the less likely there is to be profit-draining churn.

When banks talk about commerce platforms, security usually is the most important topic and, with hackers all around us, that’s a smart idea. But a platform can do so much more.

For example, the FreedomPay Commerce Platform can enable mobile payments, digital wallet services and incentive technologies that integrate with live point-of-sale (POS) systems to enhance and expand traditional banking products. It presents a uniform brand face to the customer and helps keep the bank brand at the top of the wallet

A high-value customer typically wants premium service and expert advice, not to mention advanced digital channels. Our commerce platform can deliver that with incentive programs and other points of contact that drive both trust and loyalty.

In addition, the business intelligence collected and analyzed by the platform allows a bank to apply what’s known as “mass individualization” by delivering relevant incentives. Those might include things such as personal savings goals or retail offers through brand partners.

Don’t underestimate the role of business analytics, because the more that’s known about a customer, the better they can be served. Macro-level reporting allows the platform to adjust incentives based on performance – a level of efficiency simply not possible with traditional advertising. Knowing what’s not working often is more important than knowing what is.

The bottom line is the likelihood of a significant return on investment through strengthened brand integrity, customized products, strong customer care and ever-present availability.

What business doesn’t want that?