The Future of Digital Banking: What Our Members Are Asking For

Our members have been telling us what they want from digital banking. Here is what we heard, and what we are building.

Last year, Summit Bank surveyed 4,200 personal and business banking members across New England about their digital banking habits and wishlist. The results shaped our product roadmap for the next two years. Here's what we found.

What members are already doing digitally

The numbers surprised even our own team. 84% of our members now do the majority of their routine banking on mobile: checking balances, depositing checks, paying bills, and transferring funds. Branch visits are increasingly reserved for two things: opening accounts and applying for loans.

Zelle is now our most-used payment feature, surpassing ACH transfers for personal accounts for the first time in 2024. Mobile check deposit volume grew 31% year over year.

What members told us they want next

Three themes dominated the open-ended responses:

Instant everything. Members want real-time balance updates, instant payment confirmation, and same-day or instant transfers between Summit accounts and external banks. "I shouldn't have to wait until tomorrow to see if my transfer went through" was the single most common feedback phrase.

Smarter money tools. Members are asking for spending insights that actually help them, not just charts of what they already know. Specific requests: category spending comparisons to prior months, early alerts when a subscription charges more than expected, and a plain-English summary of "where did my money go this month."

Digital loan applications. 67% of members said they would prefer to start a mortgage, HELOC, or personal loan application entirely online, with the option to come into a branch only for closing. Currently, our mortgage application is partially digital; the survey confirmed that finishing the job is our highest-leverage investment.

What we're building

We're investing $12M over the next 24 months in three areas: real-time payment infrastructure (instant transfers, expanded Zelle limits), an AI-powered financial health dashboard, and a fully digital mortgage application. The financial health dashboard will launch for all members in Q3 2026, with personalized spending insights and early bill-spike alerts.

We'll never be the largest bank in New England. But we intend to be the most responsive one. Keep the feedback coming at feedback@summitbank.com.