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MIssion realignments in banking realities that supports our mantra

by | Sep 15, 2025

https://thefinancialbrand.com/news/personalization/change-how-you-think-about-primacy-and-spark-a-new-sense-of-mission-in-the-process-192163

 

The article “Change How You Think About Primacy and Spark a New Sense of Mission in the Process” from The Financial Brand focuses on the non-transactional elements driving true primacy in banking relationships. Rather than merely counting transactions or cross-selling products, the piece argues for a deeper, mission-oriented approach—centering banks around personalized financial health, proactive advice, and cultural transformation. Below is a 1200-word analytical review concentrating on these non-transactional forces, synthesizing contemporary industry perspectives and cited information from broader primacy debates.

Rethinking Primacy: Beyond Transactions

Primacy in banking has historically meant that the bank is a customer’s main financial institution, gauged by transaction activity (e.g., payroll deposits, bill pay, or product sales). Yet, the article reveals that such transactional metrics no longer equate to real engagement or loyalty. Fintech disruptors and legacy banks alike are discovering that primacy is now signaled by deeper factors—customer trust, relevance, and mission-driven service, rather than mere account openings or usage rates. While consumers may hold multiple relationships, the bank that achieves “mission primacy” is embedded in the person’s financial life via everyday guidance, empathetic service, and advanced digital capabilities.

Financial Health as a Core Mission

Banks focusing purely on product cross-selling inadvertently overlook what consumers seek: meaningful support along their financial journeys. The article stresses that financial health advice and personalized wellness guidance must become core elements of the banking mission. This demands a paradigm shift:

  • Banks should position themselves as financial wellness stewards, leveraging data and AI to anticipate personal needs, offer timely financial insights, and encourage smart decisions rather than just account openings.

  • Advisors and digital platforms must work in concert to deliver immediate, personalized interventions—such as flags for money-saving opportunities or risk alerts—solidifying the value of the institution in moments that matter.

Personalization and Proactive Engagement

Personalization is the linchpin of non-transactional primacy. “Knowing the customer” moves from theory to practice via:

  • Advanced analytics and AI: Modern banks use these to read granular data and automate recommendations that are tailored to individual lifestyles, family circumstances, and financial goals.

  • Mission-driven onboarding: Seamless digital onboarding isn’t just for speed—it’s the first step in a journey where the bank proactively educates, rewards loyalty, and helps with complex decisions, such as mortgage readiness or investment planning.

Personalization also means offering choice, flexibility, and human touch. While digital-first strategies remain crucial, omnichannel blends with advisory support are necessary to solve real problems. For example:

  • Citizens Bank uses APIs for easy direct deposit switching, simplifying onboarding and demonstrating genuine care.

  • Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Personal Capital deploy predictive cues and frictionless advice to anticipate overdrafts and offer custom credit solutions.

Empathy, Trust, and Relationship Depth

Non-transactional primacy is ultimately built on empathy and enduring trust. Several industry studies and the article itself show:

  • Legacy loyalty among Boomers and women: These groups will remain with institutions that prove empathetic, transparent, and supportive for years. Banks cannot assume that tenure alone will drive primacy; mission-aligned accompaniment is the key.

  • Cultural transformation: Achieving non-transactional primacy requires reengineering bank culture towards transparency, ethical behavior, and placing customer welfare above short-term sales targets. Short-term metrics and acquisition costs must be subordinated to long-term engagement and impact.

Ubiquitous, Contextual Banking Experiences

The winning formula posed in the article and reinforced by other thought leaders involves making banking contextual and embedded in the customer’s daily life. This is achieved through:

  • Seamless integration: Banking services must show up as needed, whether as intelligent nudges in mobile apps, contextual budgeting help, or advisory sessions prompted by life milestones.

  • Human + digital harmony: The model blends digital ubiquity with human utility. Regional and niche banks that pioneer frictionless experiences—such as those integrating holistic financial advice with simple transactional platforms—stand apart.

Organizational Goals Over Customer Milestones

Banks should treat primacy not as a transactional milestone, but as a strategic, organization-wide mission. Success demands integrated efforts across:

  • Sales, operations, product, and marketing: Collaboration ensures that predictors of primacy (like digital engagement, bill pay, direct deposits) aren’t just sold—they’re measured and fostered at each customer touchpoint.

  • CRM and marketing automation: These tools provide visibility into relationship depth and allow banks to customize outreach based on each customer’s evolving needs, moving beyond one-size-fits-all communications.

Community, Advocacy, and Endorsement

A mission-driven bank becomes not just a financial partner, but an advocate for its customers. Primacy accelerates when:

  • The institution earns peer endorsements and referrals, signifying that it’s become vital to the consumer’s financial ecosystem.

  • Engagement and positive customer outcomes are tracked, with feedback loops informing personalized offerings and validating the bank’s mission impact.

Technology and Its Limits

While AI and data analytics are powerful, the article cautions against over-reliance on tech for primacy. Human connection, trust, and ethical considerations rise in importance when competitors can easily replicate digital conveniences. Banks must avoid the trap of short-lived digital engagement and focus on the human outcomes of technology deployment.

The Challenge: Unbundling and Fluid Loyalty

Big banks previously strove to tie customers together with bundles of products, increasing friction and switching costs. The “new primacy” turns this inside out:

  • Unbundling as opportunity: Technology has made switching institutions trivial, so banks must earn loyalty by mission, not inconvenience.

  • Fluid consumer loyalty: Most consumers now maintain 5–7 financial accounts across providers, so true primacy is achieved through everyday relevance, not exclusivity.

Measurement and Profitability

Non-transactional primacy correlates with relationship profitability. Banks need to:

  • Layer customer usage with profitability via simple, actionable data dashboards. AI can streamline the measurement but must be paired with insights into behavior and outcomes.

  • Move beyond binary definitions: It’s not just about “active” or “inactive” relationships, but about degrees of meaningful customer-centric engagement at every stage.

Industry Examples and Leadership Implications

The article and supporting sources highlight leaders and institutions that deliver on non-transactional primacy:

  • Fintechs like Chime and Cash App win primacy not by products, but by embedding themselves as financial companions.

  • Banks prioritizing personalization, wellness, and advocacy—rather than transactional volume—are defending and growing their core mission.

Transformational Courage

Last, the article’s boldest idea is that bank transformation requires courage:

  • The willingness to reconfigure cultures, bring in outside partners, and rethink what success looks like is critical for survival.

  • Generative AI unleashes new agility, but only mission-driven, outside-the-box leadership will spark the necessary sense of purpose.

Strategic Recommendations

Non-transactional primacy is the future of banking, demanding bold leadership, relentless customer focus, and a willingness to disrupt legacy comfort zones. To realize this:

  • Embrace mission over metrics: Redefine primacy as empathetic accompaniment and financial health guidance, not raw transaction counts.

  • Advance personalization and proactive care: Deploy AI and data to customize every moment, but balance technology with genuine human touch.

  • Pursue cultural change at scale: Align all teams behind long-term, relationship-driven goals, and equip the organization to act as a financial advocate.

  • Build for fluid loyalty: Design each interaction as an opportunity to earn trust anew, recognizing that consumers now expect frictionless, omnichannel experiences.

  • Innovate with courage and vision: Lead transformation not by fear of disruption, but by boldly championing a renewed banking mission.

Banks that make this leap—from transactional to mission primacy—will win not just engagement, but the hearts, minds, and advocacy of their customers in a competitive, connected future.