Nobody likes watching customers walk away. But that’s exactly what banks keep seeing, even after throwing cash incentives at the problem. Paul De Bonis, Managing Partner at TLC Worldwide North America, thinks there’s a better way. After spending over a decade helping major brands rethink customer engagement, he’s spotted a pattern that most banks are missing.
The Problem with Cash Discounts
Banks love their cash incentives. Free money sounds good on paper – who wouldn’t want that? But there’s a fundamental flaw in this approach. “While this may seem like a logical approach, the reality is that cash discounts are forgettable,” Paul explains. The problem runs deeper than you might think. Once customers spend that bonus cash, there’s nothing left to keep them around. Even worse, they’re likely to jump ship the minute another bank waves a slightly better offer in their face. The math doesn’t add up for banks either. They’re spending big money on these incentives, but the returns aren’t sticking. “There’s no lasting engagement, and worse — customers may just switch to the next best offer when another bank provides a slightly better deal,” Paul points out. The current banking landscape is crowded with similar offers, making it easy for customers to play musical chairs with their accounts.
The Power of Experience-Based Rewards
Money talks, but experiences leave lasting impressions. Paul breaks down what he calls the ‘Experience Economy’ – a shift in how customers value their relationships with businesses – based on the experience a brand creates for its customers beyond goods or services. “Experiences have essentially become a category of their own, alongside goods and services,” he notes. This isn’t just theory – it’s changing how successful businesses think about customer relationships.
The old transactional approach isn’t cutting it anymore. Banks need something stronger to keep customers around. “It’s these experiences that create an emotional connection with your people – helping you move beyond the common transactional relationships that are common in market & build true customer loyalty in a way that creates lasting stickiness or retention,” Paul explains. He suggests flipping the script entirely: “Instead of offering discount or cash back offering, what if your bank regularly rewarded you with truly engaging experiences, personalized specifically to your interests?”
Implementing Experience Rewards Successfully
Getting experience rewards right isn’t just about throwing concert tickets at customers. Paul lays out a practical approach that banks can actually use. “The key to making this work is personalization,” he emphasizes. Banks already have the data – they just need to use it smarter.
Paul breaks down how this might look in practice. Banks can leverage data to offer the right experience to the right customer:
- A frequent traveler – Reward them with hotel rewards.
- A family-first customer – Free entertainment or Activity based experiences the whole family can enjoy together.
- College student – Help them avoid the campus meal plan with dining & restaurant rewards.
These aren’t just random perks – they’re strategic tools for building stronger customer relationships. When banks get this right, they’re not just keeping customers around longer. They’re creating the kind of loyalty that cash just can’t buy. “By tailoring rewards to customers’ lifestyles, banks can turn everyday transactions into long-term relationships,” Paul notes.
The Future of Banking Loyalty
The banking industry stands at a crossroads. Paul sees a clear choice ahead: stick with the old cash-back approach and watch customers continue to drift away, or build something more meaningful through experiences. “Cash discounts are a short-term fix—but experience-led rewards build long-term loyalty,” he states plainly. This isn’t just about keeping up with trends. It’s about fundamentally changing how banks think about customer relationships. The old transactional model is showing its age. By focusing on creating memorable moments instead of just handing out cash, banks have a shot at building the kind of customer loyalty that sticks around.
Through his work at TLC Worldwide, Paul keeps pushing this message: customer loyalty in banking needs a serious rethink. The tools are there. The data is there. Now it’s just a matter of banks being willing to try something new. The ones that do might just find themselves with something cash can’t buy – customers who stick around because they want to, not because they’re being paid to.
Connect with Paul De Bonis on LinkedIn to learn more about transforming customer engagement through experience-based rewards in the banking sector.
