Banks often take their customers for granted. Hopefully with the recent consolidation in the banking industry things will get better (not worse). Recently I went to one of my bank’s ATMs. They obviously have a database that tells them if the PIN number is correct. Then why can’t they remember a simple thing like what language I speak? They should ask things like: language, default account, etc and then remember it in the future to make my experience better. The customers might not notice these subtle things at first but would start to notice when other banks don’t treat them like a known friend.

Another way that banks could improve their overall experience is to notice which state (or country) the visitor originates from when using their website. Technology (like that used by Google) exists to identify where the requests are coming from. That combined with a commitment to improving the customer experience would cause the bank (or any company for that matter) to make a custom experience for everyone. They could offer the services that are exclusively for an individual market, modify the images to be more reflective of the community, and bypass marketing information when someone is already a customer. Users could always switch to a different area if they happen to be out-of-state at the time.

The status quo appears to be what works best for the bank not the customer. Yet, if they just took some time and thought about the experience from the customers perspective they could actually become very personal even if they’re really big. A little investment in the user experience would likely pay huge dividends. Today it might be something that get’s a company noticed. In the next few years this will become basic business practices.