Canadian financial institutions have become exceptionally good at keeping customers. But retaining customers and earning their loyalty are not necessarily the same thing.
Recent Leger research reveals a striking contrast in Canadians’ relationships with their main financial institution. Most Canadians (78%) say they would likely choose their main institution again. However, only 43% say they are genuinely satisfied and want to stay, while 50% remain because switching feels like too much effort, they haven’t found a compelling alternative, or they prefer to maintain the status quo.
For financial institutions, understanding why customers stay is just as important as knowing how many stay. While customer stability provides a strong foundation, it does not necessarily indicate how much value customers perceive in the relationship or whether they will choose the same institution for their future financial needs.
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Our findings highlight three potential blind spots that financial services leaders should consider.
The First Blind Spot: Mistaking Retention for Relationship Strength
Only 3% of Canadians say they are actively considering switching their main financial institution. That’s reassuring if customer attrition is the primary measure of relationship health.
However, Canadians’ perceptions of the value their institution provides suggest a more nuanced picture:
- Just 50% believe their main financial institution makes managing their finances simpler.
- Another 45% say their institution makes managing money neither simpler nor more complicated.
For nearly half the market, their main financial institution isn’t perceived as making financial management easier. This does not necessarily indicate dissatisfaction, but it may suggest an absence of meaningful added value.
Financial institutions continue to invest in digital capabilities, product innovation, and personalized experiences. The challenge is ensuring these investments translate into benefits customers actually recognize.
For financial services leaders, perceived simplicity can be an important indicator of whether customer experience initiatives are delivering value. Understanding which services genuinely make customers’ financial lives easier, and where friction remains, can help institutions prioritize improvements that strengthen their relationships.
The Second Blind Spot: Underestimating the Trust Gap
While simplicity influences the everyday banking experience, confidence in an institution’s support is particularly important when customers face financial uncertainty.
Only 39% of Canadians feel confident their main financial institution would support them effectively through unexpected financial difficulties.
Confidence also varies considerably across age groups:
- 53% of Canadians aged 18–24 express confidence in receiving effective support.
- This drops to 33% among those aged 45–54 and 30% among those aged 55–64.
These age groups may be navigating significant financial responsibilities, from mortgages and family obligations to retirement preparation. Yet they report some of the lowest levels of confidence in their institution’s ability to support them when needed.
For financial institutions, the opportunity is to identify where customers need greater reassurance, guidance, and support throughout their financial lives.
Understanding how confidence varies across customer segments and financial life stages can help institutions anticipate needs, improve advisory experiences, and provide more relevant support before customers encounter difficulties.
The Third Blind Spot: Assuming Financial Sophistication Creates Loyalty
There’s another intriguing pattern revealed in our research.
Canadians with a household income of $100,000 or more are more likely to say switching financial institutions feels like too much effort (22%) than those at $60,000 (13%). This challenges the assumption that financially established customers remain because they’re more satisfied or committed.
Institutions can mistake customers’ reluctance to leave for evidence that they’re delivering superior value, but switching friction is not a compelling customer proposition.
And it offers little assurance that customers will choose the same institution when selecting their next mortgage, investment product or financial service.
What Financial Services Leaders Should Consider
Leger’s findings point to three priorities for strengthening customer relationships.
1. Redefine relationship health.
Retention and repeat-choice intentions are valuable indicators, but they should not be the only measures of loyalty. Understanding why customers stay, the value they perceive, and their confidence in the institution can provide a more complete picture of relationship strength.
2. Make financial simplicity a strategic performance indicator.
Evaluate digital innovation, products, and services through the customer’s experience. Measuring whether these investments make financial management easier can help institutions prioritize improvements that deliver meaningful value.
3. Build confidence before customers need support.
Identify the financial challenges customers face at different life stages and anticipate their evolving needs. Relevant guidance and proactive support can help build confidence before customers encounter financial difficulties.
Canada's Next Banking Advantage: Giving Customers Reasons to Choose You
Canadian financial institutions have something enormously valuable: established customer relationships and a market characterized by considerable stability.
But stability alone is not a growth strategy. Financial institutions need to understand what drives customers to stay, what they value in the relationship, and what would motivate them to choose the same institution for their future financial needs.
At Leger, our financial services market research helps institutions understand the drivers of customer loyalty, identify opportunities to strengthen relationships, and support long-term growth.
