Originally, the banking industry’s purposes were basically to solve problems of storing money, delivering payments and acquiring liquidity, in a fairly standardized way. In recent years, banks have begun making their way into areas of our lives previously unexplored by the financial services sector. Loving Spotify? Get some free months of premium with your bank. Booking a holiday? Get cheaper prices if you book with your bank. FinTechs in particular are letting people bank based on their lifestyles like university students, for example, won’t get offers on installment plans yet but rather a 50% off their order in their favorite sushi place. These new banks are customizing it for a specific target audience, or in other words, are adopting a customer centric model: they speak the same language of their audience & they understand the specific life events.
What is the definition of lifestyle
Lifestyle is the physical, psychological, social, and economical, values, interests, opinions, and behaviors of a certain individual, group or community. There are different types of lifestyles, it can be about achieving a healthy life, status, a balanced life/wellness, a spiritual life, or fulfilling ‘experiences’. How is this related to banking? Lifestyle banking means being present in people’s lives anywhere, at any time and creating constant bonding with them in areas where they love and are interested in.
How can banks adapt to the new needs of the customers?
Create a perfect user experience
To create this strategy, banks should talk to their users, research their financial behaviors and collect all possible feedback. Stepping into the users’ shoes and finding their real pain points translates into building a solution that they really want. One which is meaningful and provides a certain value. Also, you should always keep it simple. It’s well-known that the most attractive part of using mobile banking services is its ease and availability. Therefore, banks should simplify the user experience in all possible ways.
Use artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and it's rapidly evolving, having an unprecedented impact on people’s work and life. Hence, the full integration of AI’s power is a very important step for every bank striving to get ahead of the market. The use of advanced AI-based analytics enables banks to gain valuable data insights about their customers and match their needs on a deeper level. It’s an opportunity that should be used.
So, what’s the best way for banks to succeed in today’s world? It’s that banks rethink their strategies & moving from the idea of trying to sell a product to trying to fulfill a purpose, which is as simple as a flexible and easy way for people to manage & even grow their money.
