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Consumer banking is back in focus – and looks nothing like 2019

  • Major US banks are reconfiguring their consumer banking businesses in different ways.
  • The renewed focus on consumer banking isn’t tech-driven. It reflects a shift toward capital-light touchpoints that become gateways to advice, wealth, and capital allocation.
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Consumer banking is back in focus – and looks nothing like 2019

    Big banks are rebuilding consumer banking on their own terms.


    Leading US banks are overhauling their consumer banking businesses in varied ways. It’s not another wave of ‘banks go digital’ hype. It’s a realization that digital savings, consumer loans, and deposit chasing alone won’t unlock sustained engagement or profitability. They only work when they are connected to banks’ signature strengths: trust, scale, and financial relationships that compound over time.

    Consumer banking isn’t getting renewed attention now because banks have upgraded their tech. It’s because banks are rethinking consumer service, starting with where financial decisions actually happen, from deposits and everyday spending to savings goals, and using that as a springboard for advice, wealth, and capital allocation.

    To understand this shift, we look at the journeys of Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America, each leveraging everyday banking to drive customer engagement and funnel clients toward their lucrative wealth and advisory services.

    Goldman Sachs didn’t fail at consumer banking – it learned what actually works the hard way


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