Are bank business models doomed to shape around the activities listed in the banking regulations? Not anymore!

Introducing Lifestyle Banking

The innovative banking approach featuring traditional banking services topped up with a holistic and personalized experience tailored to individual customers' unique lifestyles and aspirations, in short, "lifestyle banking," is becoming increasingly popular with the rise of open banking and AI. As consumers increasingly seek convenience, personalization, and seamless integration into their daily lives, lifestyle banking promises to reshape the future of banking as we know it.

Lifestyle banking departs from the conventional transactional model, focusing instead on delivering value-added services and experiences that align with customers' lifestyles. Rather than viewing banking as a standalone activity, lifestyle banks integrate seamlessly into customers' daily routines and offer a range of services beyond traditional banking products.

Benefits of Lifestyle Banking

Personalization and customer-centricity are the main principles of this new banking trend. At the heart of lifestyle banking lies the principle of personalization. By leveraging advanced data analytics, open banking, and artificial intelligence, lifestyle banks can gain deep insights into customers' preferences, behaviors, and life stages. This enables them to tailor products, services, and recommendations to meet individual needs and aspirations, fostering more robust customer relationships and loyalty.

The lifestyle banking approach expands banking limits to new horizons, offering health, education, nutrition, professional, and travel-related services. The benefits are clear: as safeguards for customers' money, banks better understand customers' needs and lifestyles than anyone else.

The Financial Impact of Lifestyle Banking

Offering lifestyle services such as health, travel, and shopping can significantly impact bank revenue streams and balance out the risks of providing conventional banking services. Although traditional bank products are and will be at the heart of bank offerings, the new wave of banking requires banks to step away from the “generalist bank” approach and specialize in specific services. The niche angle allows banks to reduce costs and demonstrate expertise in particular product verticals.

However, regardless of the specialist or the generalist approach, banking activities and revenues are regulated and are subject to caps and consumer protection mechanisms. Therefore, offsetting the high compliance and IT security costs with new, unsupervised service commissions and reducing new customer costs by partnerships enable banks to diversify revenue channels while decreasing risks.

Here's a breakdown of how integrating lifestyle banking services can enhance its financial performance:

Diversification of Revenue Sources

Increased Fee Income: Banks can earn additional income through service fees or commissions from partners offering health, travel, and shopping services. For example, banks might charge a fee for facilitating travel bookings or earn commissions from health insurance products sold.

Subscription Models: Offering premium accounts that include access to exclusive lifestyle services can attract customers to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee, providing a steady income stream.

Enhanced Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Cross-selling Opportunities: By integrating lifestyle services, banks can create opportunities to cross-sell their core financial products. For instance, customers using a bank’s travel service might be more inclined to apply for a travel insurance product or a credit card offering travel rewards.
Customer Retention: Personalized and value-added services enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, making it less likely for customers to switch to competitors.

Attracting New Customers

Broader Market Appeal: Offering services beyond traditional banking can attract a broader audience, including younger generations who may prioritize convenience and digital services.
Competitive Differentiation: Unique lifestyle services can differentiate a bank from its competitors, attracting customers looking for a one-stop-shop for their financial and lifestyle needs.

Increased Data Insights for Tailored Marketing

Customer Data Analysis: By offering a range of services, banks can collect valuable data on customer preferences and behaviors, enabling them to tailor marketing strategies and offer personalized financial products.
Targeted Promotions: With detailed insights into customer habits and preferences, banks can design targeted promotions for financial products that customers are more likely to be interested in, increasing the success rate of these campaigns.

Concerns Related to Lifestyle Banking

While offering lifestyle services can open new revenue streams, banks should also consider the associated risks and challenges:

Data Privacy and Cybersecurity: The increased use of data and personalization increases the exposure risks for banks. In addition to implementing the state-of-the-art data protection and cybersecurity measures, banks should educate their employees and customers about the dangers, risk identification, and prevention mechanisms.
Operational Complexity: Integrating non-financial services requires robust technology platforms and can increase operational complexity. Banks should assess IT and operational complexity and resource requirements beforehand.
Partnership Management: Success often depends on the quality of partnerships with service providers, which require effective management and coordination. However, partnerships can create risks and costs for banks due to their outsourcing nature or if the partnership goals and strategies are not aligned, as in the Apple & Goldman partnership.
Regulatory Compliance: Banks must navigate the regulatory implications of offering diversified services, ensuring compliance across different sectors. A detailed regulatory analysis should be conducted before entering different sectors.

Many traditional and fintech banks (i.e., neobanks) offer travel-related services, such as booking, discounts, insurance, and mile programs.

Image: Unsplash

Lifestyle Banking in Action

Several forward-thinking financial institutions have already embraced the concept of lifestyle banking and are redefining the banking experience for their customers.

One notable example is Chase Bank's partnership with Starbucks, which allows customers to earn rewards points for purchases made at Starbucks using their Chase credit or debit cards. This collaboration seamlessly integrates banking into customers' coffee-drinking routines, enhancing their overall experience and loyalty to both brands.

Another example is Revolut, a digital banking platform – or a Fintech- that offers a range of lifestyle-focused features, including budgeting tools, travel insurance, and cryptocurrency trading. Lately, Revolut also expanded into travel booking. By providing a comprehensive suite of services tailored to modern lifestyles, Revolut has attracted millions of customers worldwide and disrupted traditional banking models.

Hong Kong based Mox, a digital bank supported by Standard Chartered and in collaboration with HKT, PCCW, and Trip.com, is another Fintech example offering a comprehensive range of retail banking services along with lifestyle perks, all consolidated into a single platform. Mox is the only bank offering Asia Miles instantly upon placing a Time Deposit without waiting until maturity.

Wellness and Health: Further Lifestyle Banking Services

Although many existing lifestyle banking examples focus on travel and retail brand partnerships, there is an untapped opportunity to offer bank customers wellness, therapy, and other health-related services. Access to the new health and wellness frontier

allows banks to explore commission-based revenue streams targeting customers and employees in the health and wellness segments. According to Statista, the worldwide wellness market equals almost 8.5 T USD worldwide, and wellness tourism is estimated to have a market size of 650B USD.

As consumers intend to keep spending more on products and services that improve their health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, sleep, and mindfulness, it only makes sense for banks to tap into these new revenue stream channels, using affiliate, referral, subscription-based, and other type of partnerships.

Banks intending to gain a share of the health and wellness industry can either utilize the existing data using open banking, determine needs, create a loyalty system, or partner with specific industry partners to offer external services.

The Future of Banking: Seamless Integration and Ecosystem Partnerships

As lifestyle banking continues to gain momentum, the future of banking lies in seamless integration and ecosystem partnerships. Rather than competing solely on the basis of financial products, banks are increasingly collaborating with third-party providers to offer a diverse array of services that cater to every aspect of customers' lives.

For instance, Fintech companies like PayPal have expanded beyond payments to offer services such as peer-to-peer lending, savings accounts, and budgeting tools mastering embedded banking. By forging partnerships with merchants, e-commerce platforms, and other service providers, PayPal has positioned itself as a one-stop destination for all things financial, empowering customers to manage their finances effortlessly.

Lifestyle banking represents a paradigm shift in the banking industry, placing greater emphasis on personalization, convenience, and customer-centricity. By offering a seamless integration of financial services into customers' daily lives, lifestyle banks have the potential to redefine the relationship between individuals and their money, creating more meaningful and engaging experiences. As banks continue to innovate and adapt to evolving consumer preferences, lifestyle banking is poised to revolutionize the future of banking and drive greater value for customers worldwide.

Determining a Lifestyle Banking Strategy

Lifestyle banking is the future of banking, and we’ll see more Fintechs offering lifestyle services in the future. How can you become part of this trend as a bank or fintech?

First, dive deeper into the existing customer data to better understand your customers and needs. In parallel, analyze local market trends.
Once you are clear about the customer needs and, thereby, which services to offer, look into the bank's operational and financial resources to create a business case.
Talk to potential partners to discuss partnership opportunities, costs, and expected revenue. Filter them according to your organizational needs.
Test your assumptions and campaign in small customer groups and define a tangible marketing strategy.
Clarify the operational, legal, and marketing burdens in detailed agreements.

By integrating lifestyle services, banks can diversify their revenue streams, enhance customer engagement, and differentiate themselves in a competitive market. However, success in this endeavor requires careful strategic planning, investment in technology, and a focus on delivering high-quality, relevant services to customers. Contact us to discuss the best ways to integrate lifestyle banking services into your marketing or product offerings, and let us define the next steps for you.

Differentiating Bank Revenue Streams: Exploring the Rise of Lifestyle Banking