Financial institutions spend a lot of money on channels their best prospects don’t use, and almost nothing on channels where those prospects spend hours every day.
Your institution probably has a customer service team that’s genuinely good at its job. You likely have competitive rates on at least some of your products. You’re probably rooted in the community in ways a national bank or fintech can’t match. None of that matters if your customers feel like they’re paying too much.
When a consumer is ready to open a new account or switch institutions, their first move is almost always digital. Forty-nine percent of consumers in our study use Google Search to research specific financial products. Thirty-four percent rely on friends and family recommendations. Twenty-eight percent check online reviews.
Millennials are the most financially active generation in our 2026 study. They are the most likely to seek out financial information, the most responsive to social media content from financial institutions, and the most engaged with product research across digital channels.
Gen Z is no longer a future audience. The oldest members of this cohort are 27. They have jobs, they have debit cards, they have growing credit needs, and they are very much in the market for financial relationships. They are also, according to our research, largely up for grabs.
Financial marketing tends to behave as if consumers are constantly thinking about their bank. They’re not. For most people, their primary financial institution is invisible — a background service they interact with briefly and think about almost never. Until something changes.
The data from our 2026 American Financial Consumer study points in a clear direction. The competitive environment for local banks and credit unions has never been more dynamic or more full of opportunity for the institutions willing to act on what the numbers are telling them.
Local credit unions are the most favorably viewed financial institution type in the United States, according to our 2026 American Financial Consumer study. Seventy-seven percent of American consumers view local credit unions favorably. That is ahead of local banks, regional banks, national banks, and every fintech alternative in the survey.
If you asked your last 50 new account holders how they first heard about your institution, what would they say? If you’re like most community banks and credit unions, the most common answer would be: ‘Someone in my family told me about you.’
Here’s a number that should make every community bank marketer sit up straight: 76% of American consumers view local banks favorably. For local credit unions, that number is 77%, which is the highest favorability rating of any institution type in the country.