HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

Financiers will have to heed that advice if they want to grow despite challenging regulatory and competitive environments, said a panel of executives discussing the future of banking at the Consumer Bankers Association conference last month. Banks of the future will be marked by innovative products, optimal usage of collected data, and an unparalleled customer experience.

“One of finance’s dirty words right now is ‘innovation,’” said panelist Andrew Freeman, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions. Banks will differentiate themselves from the pack by offering “product innovation that really helps consumers,” he added.

For instance, financial institutions that cater to the “unbanked” and “underbanked” populations would fill a critical niche, said Steve Qualkinbush, principal at New Channels Realty LLC.

Innovative product development will stem from effective piggybacking on customer information. At present, though, many banks are overwhelmed with “unusable” data. In fact, a poll of the session’s 600 or so attendees found that 60% felt they have “a long way to go” in making their data usable to optimize customer relationships. Another 37% deemed their data “as good as the competition, but not great.”

Whereas years ago banks might have had customer files with 12 gigabytes of information, these days some financial institutions have 25 or 30 terabytes of customer data, said Dennis Hooks, senior group vice president at IXI Corp., a unit of Equifax. “The amount of information has gotten immense,” he said. “I’m suspecting it’s difficult getting that information usable.”

While banks work to sift through their treasure troves of data to design customized product bundles, they must also consider customers’ banking goals and expectations. What are their customers doing at the same time they’re banking? One panelist pointed out that women’s clothing retailer Chico’s locates stores in shopping centers frequented by its core demographic: 56-to-58-year-old women. “They want to be in that traffic pattern,” said Scott McKain, co-founder of the Value-Added Institute, a think-tank, and author of three business bestsellers.

Banks often do the same, opening branches in grocery stores or office parks, depending on their clientele, Qualkinbush said. But financial institutions need to take their analysis a step further, facilitating customer behavior by use of the branch, he said. For instance, a consumer might opt for a drive-through window because it saves him time, or because he’s on his way home from the gym and is sweaty and smelly. But what about putting a bank branch at a coffee or sandwich shop, Qualkinbush proposed.

Aside from properly locating branches, banks must develop customer trust and confidence. “As consumers, we don’t want you to make it right, we want you to get it right — with every transaction, every time,” McKain said.

And customer service matters. A consumer doesn’t want to feel like a number. Most banks say they have great customer service. “Even the banks that have horrible customer service say they have great customer service,” he said. “Therefore, to say you have great customer service does not differentiate you.”

A positive experience is critical; banks must connect with their customers on a personal and emotional level. That personal focus will challenge banks for the near future, until they find a way to do what Apple Inc. does for consumer electronics. “Apple is the highest-volume-per-square-foot retailer in the U.S.,” McKain said. “They celebrate with [when you make a purchase.] That’s what has to happen in bank branches.”