Digitalization in retail banking: customers’ behavior and choices

This paper contributes to studies on the evolution of retail banking and aims to understand how innovative strategies and new technologies influence customers’ choices and behavior in retail banking. An online survey was conducted to collect the opinions of bank clients, all of whom were accustomed to conducting banking activities physically and/or digitally on online and mobile platforms. The answers were analyzed innovatively by using ordinal logistic regression to infer the customers’ preferences and criticisms regarding digital tools and solutions in retail banking. Customers have proven to be sensitive to technological innovation and organizational models introduced by retail banks. The judgment of the financial services and products offered through the virtual banking channel is different depending on the user profile. The study contributes to bank management research by exploring customers’ reactions to the transition to “phygital” organizational model for retail banking. The results obtained highlight how managers should design innovative strategies and adopt technological solutions to meet the preferences of the youngest sector of customers, who will be the most significant group in the future.