Loyalty in banking is now fragmented: How Chime is winning the era of soft switching
- Customers are redirecting their day-to-day financial transactions elsewhere, while keeping their old accounts on the books.
- Although some banks pick up early signals yet miss the issue before it fully surfaces, fintechs and neobanks, on the other hand, see this same issue as a compounding opportunity.
A silent migration across checking accounts is redrawing the map of customer stickiness. Customers aren’t closing existing accounts or storming off after a bad experience. Instead, they’re moving the greater part of their financial activity elsewhere while keeping their old accounts open. Their linked debit cards still exist in the drawer. Their credit cards still accrue small charges. But the nucleus – the ‘primary account’ – is relocating.
The trend of ‘soft switching’
Recent findings from J.D. Power’s Financial Services Churn and Analytics report quantify what banks have been feeling anecdotally: customers are hedging their loyalty.
In Q3 2025, approximately half of all new US checking (52%) and investment (48%) accounts opened were additional accounts.
At first glance, this looks like a healthy diversification strategy. But the deeper pattern is more telling: 72% of people who opened “additional” or “replacement” checking accounts switched to a different provider, and more than half of those (54%) made it their primary account.
This behavior, known as soft switching, signals a cultural shift: customers are no longer just prioritizing brand loyalty and branch dependence; they are equally focused on value, experience, and convenience.
The illusion of retention: For traditional banks, soft switching is dangerous primarily because it’s silent.
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