Personalizing the Financial Services Customer Journey

Financial services are inherently a very personal product. These products are linked to our most personal aspirations and milestones, from saving for a child's college education to retirement planning. Every customer's financial situation, risk tolerance, and long-term goals are unique—so a cookie-cutter approach doesn't work.

I recently spoke with Laura Granahan, Amplitude’s Principal Customer Success Manager, and Ted Sfikas, Amplitude’s Field CTO, about how finserv organizations are delivering personalization at scale throughout the customer journey.

The current state of finserv

The financial services industry is undergoing a period of rapid transformation. Technological advancements, shifting customer expectations, and a growing emphasis on responsible practices are all reshaping the sector. This transformation creates a prime opportunity—and necessity—for finserv companies to use personalization strategies.

The rise of AI and machine learning is perhaps the most evident trend in financial services. “We’re seeing large language models that can spot trends and the increased use of generative AI chatbots to bring personalized experiences to fintech users in real-time. This all leads to value,” notes Ted.

Another trend Ted sees is how finserv companies have become more cost-conscious, which has led them to optimize their tech stacks. They’re doing this with a strong emphasis on ESG (environmental, social, and governance) since these are very important to today’s users.

Alternative payment methods like buy now pay later (BNPL) and open banking are exploding in popularity at a time when “money is expensive,” as Ted puts it. “But this will have an impact on the economy, too, in terms of privacy regulations, security, and cybersecurity,” he explains, adding that privacy and security regulations are likely to complicate the growth of these technologies.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain might have been overshadowed by AI in recent years, but they’re making a comeback. Ted explains, “We’re seeing the establishment of crypto in more traditional financial sectors.”

Finserv companies are focusing heavily on enhancing the customer experience via product-led growth (PLG). Ted argues that “the better experience you give your consumers, . . . the better off you’ll be in this sector.”

Finally, Ted has also seen a shift toward a first-party data strategy. Finserv companies are using first-party data to become, as he put it, “stewards of data collection, data activation, and personalization” because:

• Marketing and AdTech have changed with the imminent loss of third-party cookies.
• They’re focusing on obtaining a single customer view (SCV), where customer data from all devices and systems is unified in a single source. This enables much better engagement and personalization.
• Customer demands are changing, and omnichannel personalization is now non-negotiable.

The trends shaping finserv show that the future of finance is personalized. Finserv companies that embrace this shift and invest in personalization strategies will be best positioned to thrive in the years to come.

Finserv personalization in practice

Personalization in financial services can take on many forms. Below are some of Ted and Laura’s favorite examples:

• AI- and ML-fueled recommendations, such as expense-tracking apps that suggest savings goals based on daily spending patterns.
• Gamification via rewards, points, and badges for achieving financial goals, reinforcing positive financial behaviors.
• Partnering with institutions outside of finserv, such as by connecting loyalty programs with your customers’ favorite retailers.
• Balancing convenience with security to create better, safer experiences for the user. As Laura points out, “Things like biometric sign-in make it possible for users to access information easily while feeling secure at the same time.”
• Celebrating financial wins to encourage customers to return to your app. For example, when Laura recently paid off a credit card, her credit-tracking tool sent her a congratulatory notification. “It shows that they understand the work I'm doing to improve my financial goals,” she says.

How to deliver the right experience, to the right user, at the right time, on the right channel

Users have multiple touchpoints with their finserv organizations—app, website, in-person, ATM, etc. Personalization is important, but it won’t be effective unless it’s consistent across all channels, Laura and Ted agreed. This means:

• Creating a unified customer profile
• Designing seamless transitions across all channels
• Maintaining a consistent brand voice and visual identity
• Applying contextual awareness to each touchpoint since customer expectations will be different for each of them

Once these are in place, you can start working on your personalization strategy. Here are four best practices to get started.

1. Define your persona

“It’s really critical to understand the types of users that you’re targeting for personalization,” says Laura. Specifically, you need to understand their:

• Relationship to your brand
• Comfort with personalization
• Overall expectation of how their data will be used

Some users, Laura adds, have come to expect hyper-personalized experiences. “I would probably be pretty skeptical of tools that are asking for my data but not delivering personalization in return. I would question the quality of their stewardship of that data,” she says.

That said, other users are uncomfortable with personalization. These people prefer interactions such as in-bank experiences and face-to-face interactions with tellers. “My husband would be very skeptical if he engages with something and immediately gets a personalized response,” says Laura.

Understanding and targeting your different personas is vital for successful personalization campaigns.

2. Govern your data

Next, understand your data and any data gaps that might exist. Without this, it will be challenging to create your personalization strategy, Laura observes. “You need to have the right metadata to be able to target the right audience and leverage that to target them at the right time,” she says. “That’s going to be a really big predictor of success.”

3. Define your personalization strategy and perspective

Start by defining your personalization approach. This involves deciding whether to begin with smaller, targeted campaigns or a broader omnichannel strategy. Regardless of the scale, achieving cross-system alignment is crucial. This ensures a consistent and timely personalized experience across all touchpoints in the customer journey, preventing confusing or diluted messaging.

4. Design a data blueprint with privacy and security in mind

Ted describes two ways in which this can be done. First, prioritize data security with automation at the device level. This means automatically encrypting and securing user data at the point of collection, demonstrating your commitment to privacy from the start.

Second, use existing data governance practices in your data warehouse. This Warehouse-native approach streamlines data management, simplifies compliance (e.g., right-to-erasure requests), and reduces costs by using your organization's established data security protocols within the data warehouse. By focusing on security and responsible data management, you build trust with consumers and avoid the risk of costly data breaches.

Building a personalized finserv experience

Personalization is key to building a strong relationship with your customers in the competitive finserv industry. Amplitude’s Customer Data Platform (CDP) enables you to:

• Unify customer data from various sources to create a complete picture of your customers.
• Ensure data quality and governance to personalize experiences with confidence.
• Use machine learning to identify patterns and segment users for targeted communication.

By implementing these strategies, you can create a seamless, personalized experience across all customer journey touchpoints—fostering trust, loyalty, and growth for your finserv brand.