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And How to Win Them Back
February invites reflection on how lasting partnerships are built through reliability, shared objectives, and continuous value creation, including the relationships organizations cultivate with their customers.
In both cases, early momentum can be strong, but long-term trust is earned through consistency and tangible value.
In banking, the honeymoon phase is often brief. When customer needs are not continuously anticipated and addressed, engagement declines, and the customer loyalty banks strive for begins to fade.
The Banking Romance That Fades
Recent stats show there were over one million completed current account switches in the UK in 2025, and with the UK financial infrastructure actively encouraging switching, it’s clear that consumers won’t hesitate to act when their expectations are unmet.
So, why do so many banking relationships fizzle out? The root cause isn’t poor technology or a lack of digital products or services. It’s the fragmented, inconsistent omnichannel experiences that erode trust after the initial excitement. When financial institutions fail to provide seamless, continuous services across mobile apps, call centres, and branches, the relationship suffers, even if and when every individual channel works perfectly.
The Honeymoon Phase: Digital Attraction Works
Digital channels are powerful, as they attract new customers quickly and efficiently. Mobile apps and online platforms provide a sense of control, convenience, and reassurance. In the early stages, banks are winning hearts, with customers feeling understood and empowered.
It’s important to note that banks are excelling at the digital onboarding experience, with a recent YouGov survey showing that around 73% of British adults used a bank’s mobile app in the past year, and digital self‑service is the top preference for tasks like checking balances and paying bills.
What’s more, KPMG found that over a third now say a simple‑to‑use banking app is the most important interaction they have with their bank, showing how central mobile and digital channels have become for consumers’ everyday banking experience. First impressions count, and banks are delivering.
When the Relationship Gets Real: Expectations Rise, Friction Appears
However, the honeymoon phase doesn’t last forever. As needs become more complex, bank customers’ satisfaction begins to dip.
Recent FCA research highlights a clear pattern, where customers become dissatisfied when they must move between channels, from an app to a call centre to a branch, or repeat information and re-verify their identity. It’s no longer about digital adoption, it’s about service continuity.
When the relationship faces friction, trust erodes. A seamless digital app cannot fully compensate for disjointed experiences elsewhere. The challenge is delivering coherent, improved customer journeys across channels, so customers don’t feel lost or frustrated as their banking needs grow.
The Omnichannel Banking Experience Expectation Gap
The expectation gap is real. According to the Salesforce State of the Connected Customer report in 2025, 76% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments, 83% say they’re more loyal to companies that actually deliver that consistency, and 65% report that they often have to repeat or re‑explain information to different representatives.
This highlights an ongoing friction between expectations vs reality. Banks that fail to meet customer expectations create frustration, and ultimately, customer churn in banking.
It is clear that loyalty is less about the functionality of individual channels and more about the continuity of the overall experience. Customers want to feel that their bank knows them, remembers them, and responds smoothly across every touchpoint.
Why Customers Actually Leave
When we start to put the pieces together, clear patterns emerge. Though data shows high switching rates and strong digital satisfaction, customers are still jumping ship. It’s apparent that the culprit isn’t poor apps or slow digital adoption, it’s service friction and disjointed experiences. When continuity breaks down, trust erodes, and customers exercise the freedom to switch.
Churn is gradual, not sudden. Every repeated question, every handoff that fails, and every inconsistent interaction chips away at customer loyalty.
How to Win Back Customers: From Omnichannel to Integrated Banking
The solution lies in integrated channels, where digital and human interactions operate as one continuous journey. Recent data shows that 73% of global banks had deployed at least one AI‑based customer operations tool by 2025, a technology often used to enable integrated service delivery across channels, which shows we’re heading in the right direction.
AI helps mobile apps, self-service tools, assisted support, and branch interactions work together seamlessly, creating a more connected and consistent experience for customers.
And the results in terms of retention and satisfaction are significant. McKinsey found that banks with integrated channels see up to a 40% increase in customer engagement, higher product usage, and, most importantly, stronger loyalty.
Customers respond to continuity and consistency more than they do to individual touchpoints. To win back love, banks must make their customers feel known, remembered, and supported across every interaction, every time.
Banking customer relationships may start like a whirlwind romance, but they survive on everyday consistency and trust. The customers who fall out of love don’t do so overnight. They drift away, frustrated by repeated friction and disconnected journeys. Banks that recognise this and move toward integrated, seamless experiences, will not only keep customers longer, but they will earn their loyalty, one interaction at a time.
