It’s Not Personal (Enough): Rethinking Relevance in Financial Services

For years, ‘personalisation’ has been one of the most overused and underdelivered promises in financial services. A first name on a letter. A birthday email. A vague nod to customer data. But as customer expectations grow and customer bases become increasingly diverse, those surface-level touches start to feel increasingly outdated.

It’s no longer enough to know your customer’s age or income bracket. Today’s consumers expect financial services to anticipate their needs, speak their language, and deliver value on their terms. From Gen Alpha to Baby Boomers, every generation carries its own preferences, priorities, and financial fluency. The question is, are your customer experiences keeping up?

The Problem with ‘Average’

It’s tempting to build services around generational stereotypes: Gen Z love TikTok, Millennials are drowning in house deposits, Baby Boomers don’t trust apps. But the truth is more complicated. Financial knowledge, digital confidence, and life priorities don’t always align with age.

One person might be digitally fluent but financially anxious. Another might prefer paper statements but have a complex investment portfolio. Meaningful financial services need to flex to fit the person in front of them. That’s where hyper-personalisation changes the game. 

Personalisation in Motion

Hyper-personalisation is not just another marketing buzzword. It’s about using smart insights to deliver financial experiences tailored to each individual’s situation, on their terms. Video makes it possible to deliver these experiences at scale, with a human touch.

We’re not talking about basic data segmentation. Hyper-personalisation means dynamic, meaningful content that reflects a person’s financial reality: a custom investment suggestion, an insurance offer shaped around lifestyle, or a personalised video that walks someone through their pension performance.

It’s personalisation that moves with your customers, adapting to their needs and preferences in real-time. This isn’t just a shiny tech offering, it’s about connecting on a human level, because ultimately, when people feel understood, they’re more likely to trust, engage, and stay loyal.

Playful, Purposeful, and Personal: Educating Through Experience

Financial literacy remains an obstacle, especially among younger generations. And while the industry’s typical response to financial education has been PDFs and jargon-heavy explainer videos, it turns out that a little play goes a long way.

Gamification is transforming financial education, and video is the perfect medium to deliver it. Dynamic quizzes, interactive pension planners, and scenario-based decision tools don’t just grab attention; they improve financial confidence by making complex topics feel approachable. With interactive video, you can capture your audience’s attention and drive action directly within the player, whether you’re aiming to improve service or educate on essential financial know-how.

The smartest financial brands aren’t just adding bells and whistles for the sake of it . They’re embedding regulatory compliance within these experiences and using them to foster genuine understanding, not just to tick a digital engagement box.

Want to See What’s Next?

We’ve only scratched the surface here. In the latest whitepaper from MBA Group, ‘Shift Got Real: Navigating Generational Flux in Financial Services’, we unpack what it means to be truly audience-led, explore how to personalise at scale without losing clarity, and share real-world examples of financial brands using digital tools to drive trust, understanding, and meaningful action.

Find out how leading brands are using hyper-personalisation, gamification, and smart data through video to create financial experiences that resonate with every generation.

Curious? Download the full whitepaper and start rethinking what personal really looks like in financial services.