Driving Cross-Selling after Digital Customer Onboarding in Banking
An Empirical Study on the Impact of Demographics, Initial Product Selection, and Timing of Additional Purchases at Baloise Bank
Topic
This thesis investigated how Baloise Bank, a Swiss regional universal bank, could optimize cross-selling after digital customer onboarding. The analysis focused on three key factors: customer demographics, initial product selection, and the timing of subsequent purchases. The study was based on a dataset of 449 digital customer onboarding cases from 2023 and aimed to develop data-driven strategies for more effective digital cross-selling.
Relevance
Digital customer onboarding is a critical entry point for banks, as customers increasingly expect seamless and personalized digital experiences. However, many traditional banks have not yet maximized the cross-selling potential at this stage. This study addressed a pressing challenge for universal banks in competitive markets: how to use behavioral and digital customer onboarding data to maximize customer value, loyalty, and sales through digital channels.
Results
The analysis found that traditional demographic segmentation (e.g., age, gender, or residence) did not reliably predict cross-selling success. Instead, initial product selection – particularly opening a savings account – and the timing of follow-up purchases were significantly more important. Over 86% of cross-selling occurred within the first 90 days after digital customer onboarding, highlighting the importance of this period for targeted engagement. These results suggest a shift from static to behavior-driven cross-selling strategies.
Implications for Practitioners
- Focus cross-selling activities within the first 90 days after digital customer onboarding, making use of this “window of opportunity” for targeted engagement.
- se automated, behavioral triggers – such as digital customer onboarding completion or first login – rather than traditional criteria like salary deposits to initiate cross-selling offers.
- Prioritize customers who select a savings account during digital customer onboarding for targeted cross-selling campaigns, as this group shows the highest conversion potential.
Methods
A quantitative, hypothesis-driven approach was used, analyzing 449 digital customer onboarding cases at Baloise Bank in 2023. Data was extracted from the core banking system and the digital customer onboarding backend, anonymized, and categorized (demographics, products, timing). Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi-square tests, logistic regression, and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were applied using R Studio. The study focused exclusively on digitally onboarded customers and observed their product activity for 12 months after digital customer onboarding.