How Are Hyper-Personalisation and GenAI Rewriting Digital Banking Strategy? | The Fintech Show #154

In this insightful discussion, Raj Soni, Egill Ingólfsson from Meniga, Michal Panowicz from BCG, and Jonathan Neubourg of Belfius talk about how personalisation, AI, and solid execution are changing digital banking.

Soni kicks things off with a personal story about opening an account with a digital bank and getting a card in under two minutes and believes that speed and ease have raised the bar for how users expect to be treated. Traditional banks have a lot of customer data but need to do better at turning that into real-time, personalised services that support their customers.

Panowicz points out that the main issue for established banks isn’t actually technology or rules; it’s how they execute. Countries like Spain, Turkey, Poland, and India are doing well in digital banking because they focus on doing things right with strong management, tech know-how, and consistent execution.

Ingólfsson talks about how Meniga helps banks personalise their services by analyzing customer behavior and real-time transactions to suggest relevant actions. For example, he mentions how he was nudged to invest some leftover money, showing how personalisation can boost both engagement and financial health, with Meniga’s clients seeing up to 30% more cross-selling.

Neubourg shares that while Belfius develops much of its app in-house, teaming up with partners like Meniga helps them grow quicker and smarter. He sees GenAI as a big game-changer for the future, but only if it aligns with clear goals instead of just following trends.

They all agree that shallow personalisation isn’t effective. One UK bank’s attempt to tweak communications based on financial knowledge showed little impact. When banks send loan offers right after someone has taken one out, it can hurt user trust – while real personalisation needs a mix of historical, real-time, and forecast data from different systems.