Increased personalization and better financial management tools are driving satisfaction as more consumers rely on digital platforms to handle payments, lending, budgeting, wealth management and portfolio adjustments.

Satisfaction among retail consumers in 2025 rose 11 points year over year to 655 on a 1,000-point scale, with customizable budgeting tools among key factors, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, released March 27.

Financial institutions, like Ally Financial, are taking notice.

Since launching Savings Buckets in 2020, Ally’s in-house automated savings tool has seen more than 5 million Savings Buckets created, with 1.3 million added in 2024 alone, the $192 billion bank told Bank Automation News.

Other FIs with customizable digital savings features include:

• $1.4 trillion Bank of Montreal’s automated savings program, which allows consumers to make transfers and set financial goals;
• $490.1 billion Capital One, which offers automated budgeting tools that track and categorize expenses for 360 Checking accountholders;
• $36.3 billion SoFi, which allows customers to create up to 20 Money Vaults within their savings account for specific financial goals; and
• $16.8 billion U.K.-based digital bank, Monzo, which provides Savings Pots that enable users to set aside money for various goals.

Personalizing finances

Consumers also increasingly demand an end-to-end digital banking experience in which their financial institutions offer streamlined, personalized support for every type of purchase or investment, whether it’s a monthly subscription or a house, Tiffani Montez, principal analyst at business intelligence firm eMarketer, said during the recent CBA Live conference in Orlando, Fla.

But most FIs structure their products and services separately, requiring consumers to locate, apply for and manage each account individually, Montez said.

Ally consumers can create up to 30 buckets within an Ally savings account to earmark money for goals such as:

• Housing needs or living expenses;
• Saving for a home;
• Wedding or vacation planning;
• A child’s education; and
• Emergency funds.

Linking a checking account from Ally or another institution to an Ally savings account enables consumers to take advantage of Ally’s “Surprise Savings” feature, which automatically analyzes a consumer’s checking account to identify money not being spent that can be safely transferred to a savings account, according to the bank.

The Savings Bucket feature is customizable, allowing consumers to adjust or rename buckets based on changing financial priorities, Lindsay Yousif, fair and responsible lending director at Ally, told BAN.

Simplifying savings

To help manage their finances, Ally consumers also can share financial data with third-party applications to compare Ally’s rates and requirements with other FIs for services such as loans, which are accessible on the digital bank’s website, Yousif said.

But the most significant benefit of a customizable digital tool like Savings Buckets is that consumers don’t need to keep track of multiple accounts or budgeting apps, Yousif said.

“We’re able to really serve all types of customers by having that one equal platform,” she said.

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