Three Banking Industry Trends to Watch in 2025
Banking and finance have evolved from an industry of glacial change to one of early adoption and rapid-fire innovation. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and today’s banking trends are driven by a confluence of new technology, age-old competition, and changing consumer habits. We wrangled our finance and bank marketing experts to share their thoughts on how marketers can leverage the latest banking trends to improve messaging and efficiency.
Our Top Bank Trends to Watch
Bank Mergers and Acquisitions
Chosen by: Cody Sovis, Senior SEO Specialist
The United States remains one of the most overbanked countries in the world. The number of banks and credit unions in the US is over 10,000, with approximately 4,600 credit unions and 4,596 chartered banks. Indonesia, which has a population similar to the US, has just 1,500 retail and commercial banks.
The prevalence of local, regional, and national financial institutions has offered a degree of protection against runs or failures impacting the sector as a whole; for example, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, with smaller yet significant closures of Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank in the same month, didn’t trigger a seismic collapse as some initially suggested.
Access to banking has several advantages, including more competitive interest rates on loans and CDs and access to financial services in rural areas that may otherwise be underserved.
There are disadvantages to having too many banks, however. In many cases, overbanked communities mean each institution lacks the funds to finance local projects independently, which reduces overall investment in the region. Alternatively, it requires considerable coordination between lending institutions, which causes inefficiencies.
The number of banks in the US over time indicates just how much these inefficiencies contribute to bank consolidations. In 1921, as the conditions that caused the Great Depression formed, the US had 30,456 banks. Thousands failed after the stock market crashed, and by the 1980s, the US had just over 18,000 banks. It took the Great Recession to trim the tally to under 5,000.
As of March 2024, the number of US banks was 4,577, a slight increase from 2022. However, the number of bank branches has declined by nearly 30% to 71,190, largely due to mobile apps and online banking.
2025: Consolidation in the Banking Industry Returns
Lingering inflation and an elevated interest rate environment contributed to a subdued mergers & acquisitions environment in 2023. While 2024 saw an uptick in acquisitions, expectations are high for 2025. The broader economic landscape stabilizes, and the incoming administration has voiced support for reduced regulation.
2024 saw a total M&A deal volume of $3.17 trillion, with only four deals worth more than $25 billion-plus. The combination of the expected regulatory reset and reduced red tape should support a more conducive environment for dealmaking. There are specific growth industries where supporting institutions may need to combine to support energy (fossil fuels and renewables) and technology and combat an increased presence of private equity and private credit.
The Marketing Angle
In addition to the strict regulatory due diligence, bank marketing teams need to work to understand how acquisitions impact current and new customers. It takes time and consideration to shape effective messaging to inform customers of the change, introduce new financial products, services, or procedures, and allay any fears about the security of depositor funds.
The Rise of Online-Only Banks
Chosen by: Megan Youngerman, SEO Specialist
The importance of mobile apps in banking is nothing new. Over the past decade, mobile banking has trickled down from national banks like JP Morgan Chase to community banks and credit unions. More recently, online-only banking has taken the app concept to its seemingly inevitable end—banks without branches or even proprietary ATMs.
Banks that are only online have several advantages, including the lack of overhead costs associated with real estate and a larger workforce. This allows them to offer higher rates on savings accounts and CDs compared to larger incumbents and lower fees.
Their overreliance on technology does pose some limitations, especially among less tech-savvy individuals, particularly seniors. It also introduces friction in depositing or withdrawing cash, which usually takes place at partnering businesses like CVS or other common retailers.
The Marketing Angle
One of the often-overlooked disadvantages of online-only banks is the lack of on-the-ground marketing, which makes building brand recognition offline nearly impossible. In addition to traditional marketing, affiliate marketing, and strategic media buys, banks have made other moves.
SoFi, one of the largest online banks, bought the naming rights to SoFi Stadium in 2020. The sports venue serves as home field for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The agreement runs through 2040 and is believed to be worth $30 million annually. It gives SoFi perks like exclusive ATM branding, naming rights, and other considerations for the life of the contract.
Of course, SoFi is far from the first bank to sponsor a sports stadium. Even excluding lapsed agreements like that of Lincoln Financial Field, there are several current arrangements in the NFL and MLB, including:
- Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers)
- M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens)
- U.S. Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings)
- Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
- EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Generative AI in Banking
Chosen by: Andy Olds, Head of Paid Media
Artificial intelligence has upended numerous industries, but finance was one of the first. Investment banks and quants have used large language models and algorithms for over a decade to automate investing and anticipate market volatility. As generative AI has improved, it’s having a larger role in more operational tasks, including:
- Virtual assistants—Customer service is a vital concern for online banks. Banks increasingly turn to AI-powered chatbots to answer customer questions and complete routine transactions and transfers.
- Security and fraud – AI excels at analyzing massive amounts of data and spotting hard-to-find patterns. Security has proven to be one of the best AI use cases in banks, and it’s being used to fight money laundering, fraudulent charges, and insider trading.
- Consumer trends—In banking, small patterns often prove prescient. AI can use existing data sets to forecast changes in specific demographics and regional discrepancies in things like credit card delinquency and savings rates or recommend financial products based on recent spending habits.
The Marketing Angle
Banks and financial institutions spend heavily on AI tools, but the return on those investments depends on use. Marketers must craft effective messaging to introduce consumer-facing AI tools and earn customers’ trust. Long-term, there’s little doubt AI will have deeper and potentially unseen influences in financing, but the time horizon shortens as consumers adopt and believe in these tools.
Finance Marketing Expertise You Can Bank On
Oneupweb has helped local and regional banking institutions for nearly three decades. We haven’t just seen the rapid changes in digital banking; we’ve helped drive them. We build hand-picked teams with industry expertise to shape impactful campaigns, guide strategy, and deliver quantifiable returns – and you can take that to the bank. Learn more; contact us or call (231) 922-9977 today to get started.
