The banking landscape is evolving, shifting away from rate-dependent strategies towards "rate-agnostic growth strategies". In this high-rate environment, banks need to figure out how to thrive without relying on favorable actions from the Fed. Rising loan application volume and increasing housing inventory testify to growing consumer impatience - no one wants to wait anymore for rates to drop to reach their life goals.
Although it might seem like high rates have left consumers in a stasis. Life goes on, with millions of events occurring despite the rising rates. Life events such as births, marriages, career changes, retirements, and divorces continue to happen, providing a golden opportunity for banks. Big life changes are usually coupled with a demand for new financial services and products.
For instance, a newly married woman is likely to open a new credit card, look into purchasing a car or a house, or open joint accounts. On the other hand, a professional changing careers may be interested in moving to reduce commute times, building out a home office, or investing in a money market account due to an increase in income. Even when life events are not pleasant, like divorce, there are opportunities for banks to support their customers, helping them navigate through hard times like home selling, getting a HELOC, or splitting joint accounts.
Customer Intelligence is the key to anticipating these opportunities and engaging customers at the right time, building lasting loyalty. Banks are not making the most of their customer data, and that’s where Total Expert comes in, offering a new way of engagement based on a life-centric strategy.
With Total Expert’s advanced analytics and lookalike modeling, you can get insights into when customers are making life changes and tailor your interactions with them. It's about being there when your customers need you, cultivating trust and loyalty, not just earning a one-time transaction.
While it seems like we're in for high rates for some time, consumers are adapting, and they're not willing to wait. Home listings and mortgage applications are already on the rise, with our customer data showing that March, April, and May boasted the number of new loan applications at levels not seen since the summer of 2023—part of a broader trend of growing application volume since December.
It's clear that growth opportunities abound. Banks can't wait for consumers to come to them; they need to be proactive. Harness your customer’s data, extract intent signals from the noise, and use intelligent automation to act on Customer Intelligence in a timely and scalable manner.
Discover how to identify individual life events in your database, prepare for emergent events, capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities, and provide personalized communications to every consumer by getting the Total Expert Banking Guide to Life Event Engagement.
