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The findings: Fifty-one percent of credit union members, including individuals and small businesses, prefer face-to-face service, per a recent PYMNTS Intelligence survey. This shows that physical branches remain crucial for member retention and loyalty. The takeaways: Credit unions must prioritize: Maintaining and improving in-branch service: Continue investing in your physical branches to provide personalized service that builds trust and loyalty. Enhancing digital onboarding processes: Online onboarding for new members and products should be simple and user-friendly. Creating a unified member experience: The most successful strategy is a hybrid one. Integrate digital and in-branch services to create a smooth, unified experience that meets the needs of all members, regardless of how they choose to bank.

The news: Simplicity, speed, and personalized human support are the top priorities for small-business owners seeking a loan, according to an Academy Bank study. Nearly three-quarters of small-business owners still prefer in-person service despite the benefits of a speedy online process. Our take: We鈥檝e argued that people still want to work with people, especially for something as high stakes as a business loan. Gen Z and millennials are pushing the industry toward a digital-first model, but the mass market isn't there yet. This means banks can't simply abandon their physical branches or personal bankers鈥攅specially if they want to keep earning the loyalty of small-business clients. The most successful approach will involve giving these customers the option of completing everything they need in-person while simultaneously providing remote services for digital-first entrepreneurs.

The news: We鈥檝e recently covered a fintech, a stablecoin issuer, an auto manufacturer, foreign banks, and credit unions that are considering, applying for, or in the process of acquiring US banking licenses. Some have already succeeded, inspiring others to follow suit. And according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, banking charter applications have increased 70% since 2024. Our take: We predict traditional banks will push for regulatory changes that prevent the steady inflow of new banks that haven鈥檛 had to follow the more stringent requirements of the past. Banks鈥� long-standing customer relationships will be a central pillar of their defense strategy. Banks must increasingly leverage their established trust, extensive branch networks, and comprehensive product suites to highlight their stability and one-stop-shop convenience compared to specialized fintechs or more limited new entrants.

The news: Valley Bank worked with Adrenaline to create digital signage at its Fifth Avenue NYC branch to boost brand recognition and customer engagement. Displays feature dynamic visuals of diverse eyes and motivational taglines, unified across large LED and supporting screens. This omnichannel approach also used QR codes to direct customers to digital platforms. Our take: This initiative effectively uses digital signage to increase foot traffic. Custom, human-centric content, not stock photos, resonates, especially with younger audiences. QR codes with product displays are smart, converting brand awareness into new banking relationships via strategic visual storytelling and direct engagement.

Truist is making significant strides in optimizing its digital onboarding process, prioritizing increased personalization and a smoother customer journey to attract new clients. This multi-pronged strategy includes enabling mobile ID verification to boost conversion rates among younger generations, seamlessly integrating new clients with services like direct deposit and Zelle to establish Truist as their primary bank, and allowing personalized mobile app dashboards. These digital improvements, supported by AI for feedback aggregation, aim to offset the impact of branch closures and meet the demand for digital convenience, particularly from Gen Z. Truist should amplify marketing efforts to highlight the ease and speed of their fully digital onboarding, emphasizing that no in-person ID verification is required.

Traditional banks are transforming physical branches into data-rich media environments. While fintechs have accelerated digital banking adoption, in-person banking remains relevant鈥攑articularly for older, less digitally savvy consumers. Branch visits are also still required to perform certain operations like authorizing a new mobile device, recovering a password, or withdrawing large sums of cash.

Wells Fargo will also create virtual assistants for branch bankers and customer service representatives, with some agents eventually handling simple customer-facing tasks like reordering a debit card. However, the bank has no near-term plans for fully autonomous agents without human oversight.

The market is dominated by local incumbents, and even Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank, is shedding staff and branches to improve profitability. It鈥檚 crowded with other digital competitors as well鈥攍ike ING, N26, and new entrants like Spain's BBVA.

Bank branches. At showings, attendees could share personal translation stories in sound booths. All aspects of the campaign, including its website and creative materials, were presented in both English and Spanish. The impact: The campaign generated 16.7 billion earned impressions, nearly 1,000 media placements, and over 500 million social engagements.

And 72% would rather open an account via an app than a branch. Millennials prefer comprehensive platforms with robust web and mobile integration, and they鈥檙e more likely to use desktop banking for tasks like bill payments. Gen Z mostly uses big banks, but millennials trust them more:.

As their competitors continue to close branches, this could help banks with hyperlocal strategies stand out. Data-driven decisions: Citizens invests heavily in data and analytics and uses publicly available information to gain deeper customer insights. This directly leads to improved customer experiences.