Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions have tech giants like Apple, Amazon and Google to thank for the rise in customers demanding a combination of speed, simplicity and convenience that can seem elusive in the industry.

Consumer expectations have changed, but financial institutions certainly appear to be aware of the consequences of not responding to those changes.

A digital banking report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, written on behalf of Swiss banking software firm Temenos and released this week, said 56% of banking executives believe change is driven by customer behavior and demands.

For the report, titled “Whose Customer Are You? The Reality of Digital Banking in North America,” EIU surveyed 400 global banking executives, of which 100 were from North America.

More than half of the North American bankers surveyed see mastering digital marketing and engagement as their top strategic priority at least into 2020. Additionally, 87% of North American bankers believe that the “platformization” of banking and other services through a single-entry point will steer the market, compared to 78% of their global counterparts.

But believing is one thing. Doing is another.

“Despite the global prominence of Silicon Valley digital giants like Google and Facebook, the ability of US banks to provide an easy, one-stop digital journey is still underdeveloped compared with their European counterparts,” the report said, adding 49% of North American retail bankers responding to the survey cited product agility as a strategic priority for their companies.

So, what are financial institutions in the U.S. doing to get ahead of the curve on customer experiences?

It so happens, Mastercard’s first chief experience officer starts work on Monday. The CXO position is still more likely to be stumbled upon in the retail space rather than the banking and finance space.

Donald Chesnut, previously the global chief experience officer for interactive agency SapientRazorfish, will lead a team charged with improving Mastercard’s consumer payment experience, while providing merchants, issuers and other partners “a more holistic way” to work with the company’s products and services.

In an email to Bank Innovation, Chesnut said he believes brands that put “customer-centric thinking” first, and appreciate the importance of having best-in-class design capabilities, will be leaders in digital transformation.

“There has been an exponential change in the world of digital product and service design in the last few years alone,” he said. “And I’m excited to help Mastercard leverage new methods to develop new products and services that are uniquely and distinctly ‘Mastercard.’”

At Sapient, Chesnut helped Fortune 500 clients “transform their businesses by bringing consumer-centric thinking into innovative brand experiences,” as Mastercard described in a press release.

Chesnut had served in several roles at Sapient, including chief creative officer and lead for the agency’s experience design practice, before becoming global chief experience officer in 2017. He also held digital and interactive experience roles with American Express and Siegel & Gale.

“In my years in the agency industry, I’ve always believed that the ‘Experience is the brand’ – that brands are defined by the customer experiences they deliver,” Chesnut said. “I look forward to working with all of the global teams at Mastercard to design new experiences that will define the Mastercard experience of tomorrow.”

Another recent move suggests the payment solutions giant is honing in on experience.

In December, Mastercard announced Liz Oakes, formerly an expert associate partner at McKinsey & Co. in its global payments practice, would become the company’s executive vice president of market development for its new payment platforms team. Oakes is tasked with working with entities including regulators, governments, and retail and commercial banks, as well as handling the strategic development of real-time payments programs globally.