Over three decades in financial services, from banking to cards, rewards, <\/span>insurance <\/span>and<\/span> now technology, <\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span> seen one principle prove itself <\/span>time and again<\/span>: <\/span>to <\/span>acquire<\/span>, deepen and sustain relationships, <\/span>customer <\/span>value must outweigh <\/span>costs<\/span>. <\/span>But<\/span> as the saying goes, \u201cbeauty is in the eye of the beholder\u201d<\/span> – <\/span>perceptions<\/span> of <\/span>value <\/span>are<\/span> always <\/span>personal<\/span>. Some customers calculate every dollar of benefit. Others care just as much about <\/span>exclusivity<\/span>,<\/span> service quality<\/span>, <\/span>the sense of being recognized<\/span> or <\/span>the trust that the institution will be there in <\/span>the<\/span> time of need<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Traditionally, financial institutions tried to solve for perceived value through benefit bundles: packages of features, coverages, perks, annual fees and loyalty programs that, on average, meet the needs of a target segment. But marketing to the average needs of target segments is blunt and often costly. What delights one customer will be irrelevant to another, yet bundle costs are borne either way. And when companies lean too heavily on one type of value, purely rational, purely emotional, or purely relational, they miss what truly drives loyalty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What has changed is that we no longer need to operate in a segmented world. With today\u2019s analytics, true one-to-one personalization at scale is possible. The future isn\u2019t about designing bundles that work for the average; it\u2019s about ensuring each customer sees and feels the parts of that bundle that matter most to them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n AI changes this equation and the future. Today, advanced analytics make it possible to tailor value at the level of the individual. AI enables institutions to detect both broader tendencies as well as time and situation specific signals and personalize the <\/span>entire customer experience.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Think of a premium credit card that comes with over 100 different benefits. Historically, customers had to sort through them on their own. Today, AI makes it possible to highlight the benefits that matter most to each customer; the right travel perk when they\u2019re booking a trip, the right dining benefit when they\u2019re reserving a table, or the right insurance protection when they\u2019re considering a big purchase. That reinforcement should happen dynamically at every intersection: logging into a website, browsing in an app, or calling customer service. And those signals won\u2019t remain static. They will shift over time as needs, circumstances, and behaviors change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Consider the experience of a customer shopping for auto insurance. In the past, pricing was based on broad categories, like \u201cyoung drivers\u201d that often missed individual nuance. Today, AI enables insurers to personalize every step of the journey. Telematics and connected vehicles allow for tailored pricing based on real driving behavior. Digital assistants help customers select deductibles, limits, and add-ons in real time, based on their unique risk profile. And when it comes to service, carriers can now deliver high-touch support precisely when it matters most. As one industry expert put it, \u201cEvery node on the journey can feel like a path for one.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is the real challenge for leaders: how will you deliver more perceived value to deepen customer relationships? The question is whether you are personalizing how those bundles are communicated and experienced. Best-in-class companies will continue to offer comprehensive packages, but they will use AI to tailor and reinforce the message so that each customer feels the value proposition was designed specifically for them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Looking ahead, this ability to personalize value at scale will determine which institutions thrive. Customers are increasingly comparing financial products not only to other banks or carriers, but to the best digital experiences in their lives. They will expect financial services to anticipate their needs, adapt instantly, and deliver value in ways that feel both rational and deeply personal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What Leaders Must Ask Themselves As you read this, I\u2019d encourage you to reflect: How much are you using data and AI to tailor perceived value for each customer today? And if not, how long before someone else does? Over three decades in financial services, from banking to cards, rewards, insurance and now technology, I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-14530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financialservices","tag-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14530"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14541,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14530\/revisions\/14541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Problem with \u2018Average\u2019 Value<\/h5>\n
AI: From Bundles to Personalization\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n