Winning the New War for Banking Primacy

Banking Transformed with Jim Marous · Jul 16, 2026 · 10m

Your dashboard says you are their primary bank. You may only be their vault.

More than half of the new checking accounts opened today are additional accounts. The direct deposit lands with you. The relationship lives somewhere else.

Primacy no longer begins with the transaction. It begins earlier, at the moment a customer asks their first financial question. Last year, 10% of Americans took that question to an AI. This year it is 55%, and 77% among Gen Z. Those conversations are not happening with their bank, even though consumers still trust their financial institution far more than they…