Top 10 ways banks can turn subscriptions into real customer loyalty

Cashback and points no longer inspire loyalty — they’re simply expected. Today, loyalty is built on everyday relevance and value customers actually use. In this month’s Bytesize webinar, I sat down with Andy Bovingdon to unpack how subscriptions are transforming banking loyalty. Here are ten takeaways — and why the future of loyalty lies in helping customers live better, not just bank better.

1. Loyalty isn’t broken — it’s just outdated

For years, loyalty meant points, cashback, or the occasional voucher tucked away in a banking app. But customer habits have moved on faster than those schemes. Digital-first consumers open, switch and close accounts more easily than ever, and with each new challenger bank promising a smoother experience, the emotional tie to a single provider weakens.
 
The result? A generation of customers who don’t stay loyal for long. Gen Z holds a current account for an average of just five years. That’s not disinterest — it’s a reflection of choice. When your competitors are a tap away, loyalty must be earned through continuous relevance, not one-off gestures.
 
Banks need to replace transactional rewards with relational value. That means understanding how customers live, not just how they spend. Subscriptions create those daily touchpoints. Instead of reminding customers every few months that you even exist, you become part of their everyday rhythm.

2. Subscriptions are the new loyalty currency

The average consumer now manages around five subscriptions and spends close to $1,000 a year on them. And most of us have a few “forever subscriptions” — the services we’d never cancel, no matter what. For me, that’s Netflix, Prime and Playstation+. For others, it might be Spotify, Disney+, or a health/fitness app.

These services provide something traditional bank rewards can’t: habitual engagement. Customers open and use them almost daily. When a bank connects its brand to that same everyday value, it becomes part of something customers already love. That’s a very different relationship from one built on sporadic cashback on brands.

By aligning loyalty with behavior people already prioritize, banks turn goodwill into routine. The customer doesn’t need to be reminded to engage, the value does that automatically. It’s what we mean when we say subscriptions have become the new loyalty currency.

3. Stop sending customers away

Here’s the issue with most current subscription offers from banks: they start strong, but end in a hand-off. You click a link to claim an offer — maybe three months of Disney+ — and instantly you’re redirected to another site, asked to input card details, and lost to another bank’s payment card.

That experience is inconsistent, clunky, and completely breaks the customer journey. Each offer looks and feels different, with varying terms and cancellation rules. For customers, that’s confusing. For banks, it’s a lost relationship and missed data on ongoing engagement.

Keeping customers inside the banking environment solves that. A consistent, in-app flow where they can discover, claim and manage subscriptions creates trust and repeat use. Banks stay central to the experience, while customers associate the value directly with them — not with an affiliate voucher.

4. Make bundles, not one-off offers

A single streaming offer might grab attention for a day. A bundle can anchor a relationship for years. The move from individual perks to multi-service bundles is what turns one-time incentives into sustainable engagement.

Revolut has demonstrated this with its tiered accounts — especially Revolut Ultra, which includes over £4,000 worth of subscriptions services. That’s not just generous; it’s smart. It weaves the bank into everyday life, providing value that’s felt across entertainment, travel, security and trading.

Bundles also make people talk. When your banking plan includes Disney+, lounge access, or a fitness membership, it becomes something you share. That creates natural advocacy and positions the bank as part of a lifestyle, not just a transaction.

5. Use data to tailor value

Banks already sit on some of the most powerful behavioral data available — how people spend, what they prioritize, when their patterns change. Used responsibly, this insight allows banks to personalize bundles in meaningful ways.

A Gen Z customer might value streaming, gaming or AI tools. A high-flying professional might lean towards productivity, identity protection and travel benefits. Families could be drawn to music and multi-user streaming, while expats might appreciate language or international news subscriptions.

This isn’t about showing off algorithmic wizardry; it’s about relevance. When customers feel like their bank “gets them,” engagement follows naturally. Personalized bundles aren’t just appreciated — they’re actually used, which is where loyalty is truly built.

6. Make dormant accounts active again

Dormant or low-use accounts are a constant challenge for banks. They are unprofitable and lack any engagement resulting in missing opportunities. Many customers, myself included, have multiple accounts — salary, joint, digital, and legacy — but only a few are used regularly.
 
Bundles can change that. By tying subscriptions to everyday banking actions — paying in your salary, spending on your card, or holding a mortgage — you give customers reasons to re-engage. It’s the “do X, get Y” model, but with something people actually want. Ten pounds’ worth of Netflix is more meaningful than ten pounds of cashback, because it’s visible and used.
 
This approach doesn’t just retain customers; it revives relationships. When your banking app becomes the place to manage the things you enjoy, it stops being a utility and becomes a companion.

7. Think revenue, not just reward/cost

A common misconception from banks is that subscription bundling is just a loyalty play. That’s wrong, it’s a revenue engine. For starters, every included subscription payment routes through the bank’s card or account, driving transaction volume and visibility.

Beyond that, most included services start with basic tiers, often ad-supported. As customers upgrade to premium or family plans, those payments still flow through the bank. That’s a win for engagement and for margin.

Finally, once customers trust your subscription hub, they’ll add more. Managing one “forever” subscription easily encourages them to centralize others. In this model, loyalty and profitability work together — not at odds.

8. Standardize the messy bits

Anyone who’s signed up for more than one subscription knows how the experience can wildly vary. Different terms, different notifications and different steps. And when you want to cancel, it can be hard to find how. It’s no wonder some customers feel cautious about signing up through intermediaries.

Banks can solve these pain points. By working content partners and controlling the experience, they can standardize everything: clear trial periods, transparent transitions from free to paid and straightforward cancellation. The Digital Vending Machine® from Bango (DVM^TM) handles all of this complexity with each content provider integration, standardizing everything so banks don’t have to.

That kind of clarity breeds confidence. Once customers see how simple and honest managing subscriptions can be, they will trust their bank with much more. Transparency isn’t just good UX — it’s good loyalty.

9. Learn from telcos

Telcos have spent the last decade mastering the art of bundling. Verizon, Comcast and others have shown how combining content services drives huge growth and cuts churn — Verizon saw 75% higher acquisition and 60% lower churn among bundle users. A great case study was done with Telenet Group, which talks about thier strategies and some early positive results.

Banks can take that playbook further. With built-in payment infrastructure and higher customer trust, they’re in a stronger position to manage subscriptions at scale. A subscription hub within a banking app offers convenience and consolidates customers’ financial and digital lives.

And guess what? Customers want it. Nearly two-thirds say they’d prefer one place to manage all subscriptions, and more than half would be more loyal to a brand that offers it. The opportunity is literally waiting and banks are perfectly placed to take it.

10. Move fast, or risk being left behind

The concept of subscription bundling isn’t new. What separates the leaders is how quickly they can execute. Managing multiple content partnerships, integrations and billing systems takes time — and time is the enemy in a fast-moving market.

That’s why more banks are adopting Digital Vending Machine® from Bango (DVM^TM). It standardizes partner management, simplifies billing and allows new bundles to launch in weeks rather than months or even years in some cases. It’s a plug-and-play route into the subscription economy.

Revolut’s advantage wasn’t just innovation; it was speed. Traditional retail banks can still catch up, but the window is closing fast. The banks that act now will define the loyalty model everyone else follows.

Final thoughts and next steps

Subscription bundling is becoming the new loyalty currency. It’s a way for banks to move from transactional interactions to meaningful, everyday engagement. The goal isn’t just to retain customers, it’s to earn a place in their daily lives.

Those who move early will win deeper relationships, stronger engagement, and fresh revenue streams. Those who wait will be competing with customer habits that have already formed.

Standing up dozens of content partnerships, integrations and operations is hard if you do it piecemeal. This is where a Digital Vending Machine® approach helps:

1. Partner management: connect the right subscription brands quickly
2. Offer creation: included soft and hard bundles, promos, discounted multi-party bundles
3. Distribution: white-label CX journeys across app, web and campaigns
4. Lifecycle & billing: free-to-paid, upgrades, add-ons and always in sync
5. Continuous optimization: test, measure and iterate

Start small (e.g., YouTube Premium as a reward), then scale to multi-party bundles or a full marketplace from the same foundation.