17.6 years is a long time. Nearly two decades. Almost the full length of time it takes for a person to go from baby to legal adult. Now, what does it have to do with financial services leadership training?
Well, it’s also the average length of time Americans spend with the same banking organization. Forbes reports on a Chime survey citing the 17.6-year figure, along with finding that only a quarter of respondents describe their checking accounts as providing meaningful rewards. So, banking is an inherently sticky relationship…but more due to inertia than proven value.
The persistence of banking relationships poses both opportunities and challenges for you. Let’s go over a few.
17.6-Year Opportunities
- Turn Back Time: Yes, Cher said it best: “If I could turn back time, if I could find a way, I’d take back those words that hurt you, and you’d stay.” The average relationship length means you have time to reverse growing consumer pessimism about your organization. You can restructure rewards. You can improve digital experiences. You can train better leaders.
- Loyalty Becomes a Differentiator: Some financial organizations use financial metrics (such as amount in a checking account) to determine benefits. But the 17.6-year opportunity is to reward loyalty over the amount someone can put into an account. That of course means years with the organization, but it also means usage. Functioning like this sets you apart in the banking market, increases retention and fits into the loyalty-heavy retail space modern consumers operate within. Your competitor, Chime, is already focusing on loyalty with their Chime Plus and Chime Prime accounts.
17.6-Year Challenges
- Bad Policies Stick: A CNN video recently showed a homily by one of Pope Leo’s old friends about when the pope called his bank’s customer service to change information. He was told he had to come in person and then the representative ended the call. If that’s how policy handles the pope, how does it treat everyone else? Because folks don’t leave easily, bad policies aren’t easily identified. They make cozy nests of annoyance that add straws to the proverbial camel’s back until the relationship ends.
- Cruise Control Leadership: It’s easy to see that big 17.6-year number and get comfortable in your financial services leadership training. Set the car on cruise control, so to speak, and coast. You have time, right? Wrong. Keep in mind, the folks loyal for that long won’t currently include Gen Z and even some Millennials. Refusing to hit the gas means this: the present feels cushy; the future disappears.
The Biggest Opportunity
Overall, the biggest opportunity you have rests with your financial services leadership training. What will you do with this information? What will your managers do with it? Shake things up? Or coast?
Ask yourself this question: what did you first think when you saw the 17.6-year statistic?
- “Thank goodness. People will stick around awhile.”
- “That number can increase. I know it can.”
Your answer tells you a little about your inclination to act or to coast.
17.6 years is a long time…but it’s not long enough. Don’t let the opportunity to increase that number go to waste.
Give your leaders confidence to take risks. Give them financial services leadership training that sticks. Start as soon as possible – book a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Financial Services Leadership Training
Q: What does the 17.6-year banking relationship statistic mean for financial services leaders?
A: According to a Chime survey reported by Forbes, Americans stay with the same banking organization for an average of 17.6 years – roughly the time it takes a child to reach adulthood. But the data also shows that only about one in four describe their checking accounts as providing meaningful rewards. The relationship persists more out of inertia than genuine satisfaction. For financial services leadership training, this creates both opportunity and risk: there’s time to improve, but coasting on that loyalty without acting is a mistake that compounds quietly until members or customers leave for good.
Q: How can financial services organizations turn banking inertia into a competitive advantage?
A: The 17.6-year window gives organizations time to course-correct by improving rewards structures, upgrading digital experiences and investing in leadership training before consumer frustration reaches a breaking point. Organizations can also differentiate by rewarding loyalty based on years of relationship and product usage rather than account balances alone. This approach resonates with modern consumers accustomed to loyalty-driven retail experiences and sets a financial organization apart from competitors already moving in that direction.
Q: What leadership risks come with long average consumer retention in financial services?
A: Long retention can breed what might be called cruise control leadership: seeing a large average relationship number and growing comfortable rather than urgent. The danger is generational. The consumers loyal for 17+ years skew older, while Gen Z and younger Millennials haven’t yet built those long relationships. Leaders who coast on current retention numbers risk a future where the next generation of account holders never develops that loyalty in the first place. Financial services leadership training should address this complacency directly.
Q: How do bad policies quietly damage long-term banking relationships?
A: Because banking relationships are inherently sticky, poor policies don’t generate immediate departures; they generate accumulated frustration. Customers rarely leave after one bad experience. They stay and absorb repeated friction until the relationship eventually ends. This means problematic policies are easy to overlook precisely because they don’t trigger obvious churn. Effective financial services leadership training helps managers identify and address those policy pain points before they become the final straw.
Q: What role does financial services leadership training play in extending consumer relationships beyond 17.6 years?
A: Leadership training is the highest-leverage intervention available because it shapes how managers think, decide and act across every member or customer touchpoint. Leaders who are trained to act rather than coast – to see retention data as a challenge to improve rather than a reason to relax – are more likely to drive the policy changes, loyalty innovations and service improvements that extend relationships and attract the next generation of consumers. The question every financial services leader should ask themselves is whether their instinct when seeing that 17.6-year number is relief or ambition.
