Although bad actors are constantly working to undermine financial institutions’ defenses, roughly 90% of U.S. banking customers report being satisfied or very satisfied with their primary bank.
According to a study sponsored by the American Bankers Association (ABA), many respondents also held favorable views of their financial institutions’ customer service and felt their bank was transparent about disclosing fees.
This positive sentiment may be driven by the highly competitive nature of the U.S. financial services market. Many respondents noted that multiple banks are actively competing for their business. In fact, roughly 83% said they had several options when choosing products like bank accounts, loans, or credit cards.
Keeping Customers in the Know
In addition to keeping customers informed about competing solutions, digital banking technologies have greatly enhanced the way financial institutions engage with their customers. Mobile apps and online banking serve as vital touchpoints, offering customers a direct lifeline to their bank. Features like push notifications and real-time alerts play a crucial role in keeping customers in the know about account changes, security updates, and new products.
These technological advances are also driving a shift to expand the onboarding process—extending it beyond the initial sign-up to span the entire customer lifecycle. This allows the bank to be the central hub of a consumer’s financial life, fostering long-term, advice-driven relationships built on trust and ongoing engagement.
Proactive Steps Against Fraud
However, the foundation of every banking relationship is security. As banks have improved their tech, criminals have also adopted increasingly sophisticated tools—now often supercharged by AI—to perpetrate more convincing and effective fraud attacks.
Scams have proliferated to the point where there is no consistent way for financial institutions to classify and report them effectively. This has forced many financial institutions to confront the issue and take action.
These fraud prevention efforts have not gone unnoticed. According to the ABA survey, roughly 86% of respondents said their bank takes proactive steps to protect them from fraud and scams. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of respondents believe their bank does more to protect them than businesses in other industries.
