Brand First: Archetypes

5 Banking Archetypes that Beat Marketing Personas

Marketing loves personas. They show up in ad briefs and strategy decks with names like Savvy Sarah or Budget-Conscious Ben, complete with stock photos and imagined lifestyles. They’re neat. They’re tidy. And they’re absolutely useless.

Here’s the problem—personas aren’t real people. They’re flimsy composites based on assumptions, not behavior. They don’t reflect how anyone actually makes decisions, just a mood someone might be in at any given moment. And in banking, that’s not good enough.

Worse yet, personas aren’t even created to help banks—they’re created to sell something to banks. Vendors design them as a “helpful” shorthand, a way to package insights into something digestible. But strip away the stock photos and vague demographic details, and what’s left? A vacuous model designed by people who’ve never actually worked in banking. A concept that sounds smart in a pitch deck but collapses under scrutiny.

And even if personas were meaningful, their logic is fundamentally broken. Most persona models include eight, ten—sometimes dozens of different profiles. How exactly is a bank supposed to create a cohesive brand strategy when it’s being asked to speak to that many audiences at once? It’s an impossible task. You end up either segmenting yourself into oblivion or creating generic messaging that means nothing to anyone.

This is why personas fail. They assume, they generalize, and they force banks into unsolvable marketing problems.

What actually matters is why customers leave their banks. Customers don’t leave banks because they fit into some marketing persona. They leave because something broke—trust, service, or convenience. When frustration builds to a breaking point, they walk.

These failures aren’t random. They follow patterns.

This is where archetypes change the game.

Instead of trying to market to made-up personas, you focus on the five real reasons customers break up with their bank. These archetypes aren’t neat little labels that fit into a PowerPoint deck. They are raw, emotional states of dissatisfaction—the tipping points that push customers to walk away.

When you align your brand messaging to these archetypes, you aren’t just “marketing.” You’re speaking directly to the only customers who are ready to move.

Let’s break them down.

Banking Archetypes

Archetype 1 – The Unseen

Their bank knows nothing about them. There are no efficiencies gained in their transactions from an understanding of the individual as a customer. Their bank isn’t asking relevant questions (or storing the answers) to provide guidance, insight, or product suggestions that will help the customer advance their financial position. The bank also doesn’t possess or utilize local knowledge to provide similar help and efficiencies.

To this customer, it’s as if they’re invisible. Each interaction is transactional, sterile, and devoid of personal connection. Imagine walking into a place that claims to know you—to serve you—but instead, you’re treated as though you’re a complete stranger every single time. The questions that should reveal your goals, dreams, and financial anxieties are absent. The tools that could make life smoother remain untouched because no one bothers to ask what’s needed.

How the personality might express their frustration:
“The bank feels lost or out of touch with me. I feel like I must explain myself every time I transact. I’m not getting the help I need from my bank.”

Archetype 2 – The Afterthought

Their bank does not value their time. The bank opens after the customer gets to work and closes before they get off. The customer has to sacrifice a lunch break or take time off from work to visit the bank. It is difficult to find what a customer needs on the bank’s website. It is difficult to get a real person to contact you. Everything feels highly inefficient.

How the personality might express their frustration:
“I feel like I must sacrifice my time to transact with my bank. My bank does not value my time.”

Archetype 3 – The Tangled

The bank makes the customer undertake convoluted processes that benefit the bank at the expense of the customer’s valuable time. It is complicated to apply for loans or sign up for checking accounts—either in person or online. Accomplishing anything with the bank feels unnecessarily complex.

How the personality might express their frustration:
“It feels like the bank is willing to waste my time to make their jobs easier. I know there must be a simpler way to bank.”

Archetype 4 – The Postponed

The bank does not meet the customer’s level of commitment, energy, or pace. Every customer needs fast answers to make decisions. Some banks feel like they’re dragging their feet, causing real consequences.

How the personality might express their frustration:
“I feel like I’m always waiting on my bank. I’m waiting on an answer or for their app to work. I feel like the world is passing me by.”

Archetype 5 – The Estranged

The bank doesn’t feel like it is built for the customer. Nothing about the bank is congruent with a customer’s lifestyle. Maybe their mobile app, online banking, or in-person processes are outdated and antiquated. Maybe they’re too “high-tech” to even make sense. Everything can feel adversarial—even personnel.

How the personality might express their frustration:
“My bank doesn’t feel like it’s built for me. I don’t ever feel comfortable interacting with my bank. It doesn’t feel like my bank is on my side.”

The Opportunity: Tailored Solutions for Archetypes

When someone is frustrated enough to leave their bank, they’re not just looking for a new “vibe” or a bank that aligns with a “carefully crafted” persona. They’re looking for a solution to a problem.

And here’s the real problem with personas: they assume too much and understand too little. They take a few surface-level characteristics, slap on a name, and pretend they’ve captured something meaningful. But no one wants to be reduced to a marketing stereotype.

This isn’t just a shift in perspective—it’s a shift in power. When banks stop thinking in terms of personas and start thinking in terms of archetypes, they stop reacting to generic market trends and start proactively solving real customer problems.

Because at the end of the day, customers don’t want to be treated like Savvy Sarah or Budget-Conscious Ben. They don’t want a bank making shallow assumptions about their needs based on an imaginary profile.

They want a bank that actually understands them, values their time, and solves their problems.

And the banks that embrace this approach? They’ll win. Because they’ll be the ones listening when everyone else is just guessing.

Bonus Content: How to Message to Archetypes

We can’t just diagnose the problem. We must deliver some solutions—or at least some suggestions.

Understanding why customers leave their banks is only the first step. The real opportunity lies in how you communicate that understanding. Your bank’s messaging should be a direct response to the frustrations that drive customers to switch. It should cut through the noise and speak to the moment of decision—the exact point where dissatisfaction turns into action.

To help, we’ve outlined suggestions for how a bank might position itself as the solution to each archetype’s frustration. While these are generalized examples any bank could use, they aren’t generic. Each message is crafted to resonate with customers in the precise moment they’re ready to move—not just to attract attention, but to make switching banks feel like the obvious next step.

For The Unseen: “Your bank should know you—not just your account number.”

Tired of repeating yourself every time you visit your bank? It’s frustrating when your financial institution treats you like a stranger instead of a valued customer.

We believe your bank should know your goals, anticipate your needs, and offer real solutions—not just transactions. From personalized recommendations to local insights that actually help, we make banking feel like a partnership, not a process.

Are you tired of feeling unseen? It’s time for a bank that actually knows you.

For The Afterthought: “Your time matters. Your bank should act like it.”

Banking shouldn’t feel like an errand you have to plan your day around. Long lines, inconvenient hours, endless phone menus—if your bank makes you jump through hoops just to get things done, that’s the problem, not you.

We work on your time, not the other way around. Early morning, late at night, during lunch—we make banking effortless with extended hours, real human support, and digital tools that don’t require a tutorial.

Feel like your bank is stuck in the past? Maybe it’s time for a switch.

For The Tangled: “Banking should be simple. Not a maze.”

Why does opening an account feel like applying for a mortgage? Why does applying for a loan feel like a full-time job? If your bank makes simple things complicated, it’s time to ask: who is this process really serving?

We cut through the red tape. Fewer forms. Faster decisions. Straight answers. Because banking shouldn’t feel like bureaucracy—it should feel like progress.

If banking feels like a headache, maybe you need a bank that works for you.

For The Postponed: “Opportunities don’t wait. Neither should your bank.”

A slow bank isn’t just frustrating—it can cost you real opportunities. A delayed approval or sluggish loan process means you might lose out. You don’t have time to wait.

We move at your speed. Fast approvals. Real-time decisions. Digital tools that work when you need them. Because when your bank moves at your pace, you win.

If you’re always waiting on your bank, maybe it’s time to move on.

For The Estranged: “Your bank should feel like it was built for you.”

If your bank’s app is clunky, its processes outdated, or its service feels robotic, it’s easy to feel like you don’t belong. A bank should work with you, not against you.

We design banking for real people. Intuitive tech, seamless in-person experiences, and customer support that actually supports you. Banking should feel effortless—not like an uphill battle.

If your bank feels foreign, maybe it’s time for one that feels like home.