In 2025, CX leaders in the financial services industry face a critical juncture. Customers and clients expect seamless, intuitive experiences across every interaction, whether navigating a mobile banking app or resolving a complex issue with a live agent.Yet, many firms are still grappling with fragmented customer feedback systems and siloed data, which makes it difficult to identify customer frustrations and churn risks, and to target customer retention efforts effectively.
It’s time to get proactive
To stand out in an era where customers have more choices than ever just a click away, financial institutions must not only meet, but exceed customer expectations on all fronts. This requires a shift from reactive to proactive CX strategies, powered by a robust voice of the customer (VOC) program.Heading into 2025, the ability to turn insights into action isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential. By actively listening to customers and taking meaningful action to address their frustrations, financial services firms can transform their approaches to customer satisfaction (CSAT) and increase retention.In this article, we’ll look at what our research says about the current state of VOC in the financial services industry, and detail how an effective VOC program can pave the way to CX success in 2025.
VOC as the catalyst for transformation
If you felt like your team was under the gun this year, you’re not alone. Financial services firms faced unprecedented pressure not only to understand their customers more deeply than ever, but also to act on those insights faster than ever.This urgency is reflected in Metrigy’s global Customer Experience Optimization: 2024-25 research, which found that 43.2% of financial services firms added or improved their VOC programs in 2024 as part of broader CX transformation efforts.To truly differentiate and retain more customers in 2025, firms must move beyond merely collecting data to embedding VOC insights into every aspect of their operations. This transformation starts with breaking down silos, integrating customer data, and ensuring that insights directly influence decision-making at all levels.
Moving beyond the status quo in feedback collection
Let’s start by looking at how firms are gathering customer feedback. While traditional feedback mechanisms like surveys are widely used—69.4% of financial services firms that participated in the above-cited Customer Experience Optimization study use post-interaction surveys—these alone are no longer enough. The challenge lies in turning scattered feedback into actionable, real-time insights.What must financial services firms do differently in 2025 to make that possible?By making these changes, firms can transform fragmented feedback into a holistic picture of customer sentiment and needs—the necessary first step toward taking actions to improve CSAT and retention.
Look to AI for smarter insights in 2025
As customer needs evolve, so too must the tools and strategies financial services firms use to understand them. AI offers financial services firms a powerful way to differentiate and move beyond reactive CX approaches in 2025.To drive more value from their VOC programs, financial services firms should look at emerging AI-enabled technologies and how AI can help them:
When properly integrated, AI doesn’t just amplify the effectiveness of VOC programs—it enables firms to act on insights more intelligently and more swiftly than ever before.
Rethinking CX execution: Real-time action
As noted earlier, if collecting feedback is half the equation, acting on it in real time is what leads to tangible results and sets the industry leaders apart. In 2025, financial services firms should rethink their VOC program execution by:
Focusing on agility: Companies already using real-time feedback in their contact centers—over 51% of firms—are setting the standard for turning insights into immediate CX improvements.
Embedding VOC in agent training: Our research finds that using feedback-driven insights to inform agent training tracks to a 2% improvement in performance. This demonstrates the real value of aligning your employees’ actions with customer expectations.
Why acting now is critical
The benefits of VOC are clear. Firms that fully-implement effective VOC programs and modern strategies not only see measurable improvements in CSAT, but also gain a competitive edge in retaining customers. For example, Metrigy’s research shows a 34.2% improvement in customer ratings among firms that use AI in their customer feedback initiatives.Looking ahead to 2025, financial institutions that invest in VOC will have the agility and insights needed to better anticipate customer needs, to address customer frustrations before they affect customer loyalty, and to deliver exceptional experiences.CX leaders: The time is now to rethink how you engage with and respond to customers, by fully integrating VOC insights into your firm’s decision making.
Expand feedback sources: Firms need to go beyond surveys and focus groups (used by 46%) to include emerging channels, such as digital self-service interactions. Tracking completion and abandonment rates, for example, can highlight gaps in the customer journey.
Integrate feedback: All CX leaders should invest in a comprehensive VOC platform that unifies data and makes it easier to uncover valuable insights, but this will especially help the 6% of firms that say they’re lacking a 360-degree customer view, and the 21.5% that acknowledge that they’re struggling with siloed databases.
Use sentiment analysis proactively: Identify frustration in real time to prevent churn. For example, AI can apply text mining to detect dissatisfaction with your mobile banking app, use predictive analytics to determine the churn likelihood, and alert your team to close the loop before the customer considers switching to a competitor.
Improve personalization: Insights gathered through AI allow firms to tailor experiences to individual preferences, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. Our research finds that 1% of financial services firms are already using AI to track customer interaction patterns.
Increase response rates: Using AI-driven virtual agent chatbots to gather feedback immediately after interactions increases response rates and delivers actionable insights when they’re most relevant.
Deliver better self-service experiences: Tracking what customers search for and where they struggle allows firms to refine digital banking tools, reducing frustration and boosting satisfaction.
Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis
NICE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.
