Why it’s vital to bring all of your customers on your CX transformation journey

Strengthening ties with digital natives and IT laggards alike should be the aim of every modernisation strategy.

Building stronger bonds with their customers has become a pressing imperative for local financial institutions, as they duke it out in an ever-more-competitive commercial landscape. 

In 2025, becoming an individual or business's primary bank, building society or credit union is about more than merely offering competitive interest rates on deposits, mortgages and business finance facilities. 

For today's customers, that's a given. It's a baseline expectation, not a reason for them to remain loyal to you long term.

Customer experience counts

What does keep customers coming back for more is the experience they receive – we're talking personalised professional service and the sense of dealing with a trusted partner that has your back.

For Australian banks, this isn't just a competitive advantage; it's a critical step in rebuilding the trust that was deeply eroded during the Hayne Royal Commission. Customers now have a heightened expectation that their bank will act ethically and in their best interest, making a transparent and supportive customer experience non-negotiable.

That's easy to deliver if you're a small operation where customers are known by name and their requirements and preferences are well understood. 

For banks whose customers number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, it's an impossibility. Unless, of course, they use technology to do much of the heavy lifting for them.

Today, demonstrating you're a trusted partner goes beyond financial advice. With Australians losing billions annually to sophisticated scams, a key pillar of modern CX is proactive security. This includes everything from real-time payment alerts and AI-driven fraud detection to educating customers on how to spot phishing attempts. A bank that effectively protects its customers' money builds a powerful and lasting bond of trust.

Elevating your CX with automation technology

That's where AI-powered banking orchestration technology has a vital part to play. 

It's the secret sauce that's enabling ahead-of-the-curve financial services institutions to modernise their operations and deliver efficient services and stand-out customer experiences cost effectively and at scale.

What's known as an orchestration engine can be utilised to analyse an individual's entire financial profile, including their transaction history, account balances and stated financial goals, and identify relevant opportunities to expand the relationship. 

It can then be harnessed to automate messages and announcements and deliver content that's personalised, relevant and valuable.

Taking a lifelong journey together

A straightforward savings account, for example, is very often the springboard to other financial facilities and services – think home mortgages, business loans and credit cards – for Australians in their twenties and thirties. 

Using data analytics to develop a proactive lifecycle management strategy allows an institution to target young people at this, the beginning of their lifetime financial journey, with well-timed and crafted messages, nudges and prompts.

Earn their trust and loyalty in that important first decade of working and independent living and there's a good chance they'll stick with your institution for the long haul, as they grow their wealth and become homeowners, parents, investors and entrepreneurs.

Meeting mature customers where they're at

It's a similar story for the growing number of mature Australians at the other end of the financial lifecycle – over-60s who are moving in to downsizing and retirement mode.

Data analytics can be used to anticipate the milestones and life events that are particular or common to individuals in this cohort, and orchestration technology used to craft and deliver high quality interactions that reflect those events.   

Doing so via a variety of channels is essential and an orchestration engine can help you to work out how best to do that too. 

Because while many older Australians have taken to digitisation with gusto and are keen users of online and mobile banking, a sizeable proportion still prefer to do things in analogue mode. 

Giving the latter group the option to engage with you on the telephone or in branch will ensure they're not disenfranchised, and the high value relationships you've built with them, in some cases over many decades, are not put at risk as a result.

This is especially critical in regional and remote Australia, where the wave of bank branch closures has left many communities feeling disenfranchised. For these customers, access to telephone banking or a periodic visit from a mobile banker isn't just a preference; it's an essential service. A robust CX strategy must account for these service 'black spots' and ensure equitable access for all Australians, regardless of their postcode

Providing personalised service for every customer

Australia's financial services sector is mature and saturated. Institutions that hope to maintain and grow their market share will need to raise the bar on customer experience; delivering responsive high-quality service that makes customers feel seen, heard and valued. 

Engagement banking orchestration technology can help you deliver that service, efficiently and cost effectively. If building strong, relationships with account holders at every age and stage of life is a priority, it's an investment that will serve your organisation extremely well.