Escape the Commodity Graveyard: Upgrade your Financial Brand to Next-Gen CX
Alex Kreger
UXDA Founder | Strategic UX Design for Banking and Fintech Products | Fintech Design Thought Leader | Forbes Business Council
Are banks unwittingly stuck on “default settings”—and paying the price with cookie-cutter digital experiences?
It’s disheartening to watch a bank that has spent decades cultivating its brand, building a loyal client base, and perfecting the customer experience—only to provide a bare-bones digital service that feels like the cheapest table and chair in an unmarked basement. Sure, the essentials are there, but customers inevitably glance over at competitors, marveling at their sleek digital branches with stylish “furniture” behind gleaming glass facades.
Why is this happening?
Digital product design vendor selection by procurement teams too often prioritizes the lowest risk or lowest cost over bold differentiation. The result? The same white-label solutions everyone else is using, diluting brand identity and making digital channels feel like a commodity.
A purely feature-driven approach to product design may check boxes, but it rarely sparks the kind of unique, human-centered innovation that forges emotional and engaging connections with customers. And while AI and automation promise hyper-personalization, rolled out generically they risk stripping away the authentic brand experiences customers crave, turning banks into nothing more than generic functional utilities.
Perhaps the biggest red flag? Some institutions still label their digital teams as “alternative channels” managers—suggesting digital remains an afterthought rather than the primary battleground for customer loyalty.
Why does this matter? In a rapidly evolving financial landscape, an unremarkable digital experience means missed opportunities, lost market share, and irrelevance in the eyes of tech-savvy consumers.
It’s time for a mindset shift. Break free from one-size-fits-all solutions. Demand more from your product team and vendors—creativity, tailored design, and genuine collaboration. Rethink how you measure success beyond immediate ROI. And most critically, put “digital” at the heart of your bank’s strategy, not on the sidelines.
Because in today’s digital-first era, the difference between default and differentiated is the difference between surviving and thriving.
I'm Alex Kreger from the financial UX design agency UXDA. Welcome to this exclusive newsletter to stay up-to-date with the next-gen product UX design in the banking and fintech industry. If you have a challenge – let us know >>
How Procurement Teams Undermine Digital Banking—And How to Fix It
In the high-stakes race of digital banking and Fintech, one misstep can cost millions in lost customers, brand damage and wasted development. Ironically, that misstep often happens before the project even starts—during procurement.
Month after month, the UXDA team meets with banks with grand ambitions to transform their digital products. And sometimes, instead of seeking strategic expertise and customer-focused innovation, procurement teams box-tick their way to the “cheapest offer,” only to realize too late that weak foundations lead to fragile products. However, there are also examples of very successful actions by procurement teams, which we will discuss in this article.
When procurement fails to prioritize quality design and end-customer experience in line with brand strategy, no amount of technology or marketing can save a newly created digital service. The good news? Successful examples from procurement teams show that a few critical mindset shifts can turn tenders from a stumbling block into a driving force for digital excellence.
White-Label Banking: The Hidden Risks Nobody Talks About
White-label platforms, marketed as quick to market and highly customizable, can be a good choice. Yet, when clients approach us with these solutions already in place, they frequently share similar challenges—customization capabilities that fall short of expectations, constraints that limit their ability to stand out and uncertainty about where to start.
Imagine if every automobile manufacturer decided to sell the exact same model produced in the same factory, simply slapping their logo on the hood. While the badge might be different, the car itself would look and drive the same, and consumers would struggle to see what sets one brand apart from another.?
In the same way, a bank’s true competitive edge—its distinctive product interface, feature set, and customer experience—risks getting lost when a white-label solution doesn’t allow for meaningful differentiation. Over time, this can weaken the bank’s brand perception and make it more challenging to retain customer loyalty or justify premium offerings.
However, with strong vendor collaboration, the right UX strategy can turn white-label limitations into competitive strengths. This approach may not always be quick or easy, but it could maximize the potential of white-label products and align with long-term business strategies.
Why A Feature-First Approach in Digital Banking Could Break Your Brand
In today’s hyper-competitive financial industry, the allure of a “killer feature” can be irresistible. It promises instant differentiation, captures the attention of tech-savvy customers and often garners media coverage for being “innovative” or “revolutionary.”
However, as tempting as it is to bet everything on implementing game-changing features, a feature-first approach can undermine your brand in the long run. The UXDA team’s experience consulting with financial institutions around the world has shown that true power belongs to companies that strategically harness product features as an extension of something far more profound: a clear brand promise and an emotional connection with customers.
In essence, this “features first, branding second” approach stands in opposition to the other one that begins with strategic business clarity and brand identity before designing the product features. Below is an examination of each approach, the drawbacks of the first, the reasons why many financial companies adopt it and how they can transition to the second approach for greater long-term benefit.
The Risk of AI-Driven Banking Commoditization
In the near future, the banking industry will undergo a radical transformation as AI reshapes financial services.What was once a sector characterised by huge investment, scale, regulation and technological investment will become increasingly democratised.?
AI-powered fintech tools, embedded finance, no-code platforms,? crypto coins and tokens will lower entry barriers to the point where anyone—from tiny startups to individuals—will be able to create and offer their own financial products with minimal investment, as merch on demand. Have you heard about the 12 year old schoolboy who launched his own cryptocurrency as a joke, and its capitalization reached $85 million?
With AI set to commoditize core banking functions—from risk assessment to customer service—banks will no longer be able to compete on technology alone. Open-source AI models, API-driven banking, and decentralized finance (DeFi) will further blur the lines between traditional banks and new market entrants, making differentiation increasingly difficult.