Turning New Accounts Into Primary Relationships on Day 1

Banking Transformed with Jim Marous · Jul 1, 2026 · 8m

A newly opened account usually starts in third place. Here is how banks turn new customers into primary relationships in the first 90 days.

The average checking customer now uses three banks (J.D. Power), so most new accounts land behind two institutions the customer already trusts. In this episode of Banking Transformed, Jim Marous breaks down the primacy window, the short stretch after account opening when a bank can still become the one a customer’s financial life runs through, and the ladder every new account has to climb: from available, to useful, to trusted, to primary.

You will hear…