Building better retail products key to attracting young customers

A young customer today may not even walk into a bank to open an account. Instead, the journey often begins on a smartphone. They may visit a bank’s Facebook page, search on Google or even ask ChatGPT before deciding where to bank.

And when they do consider a particular bank, their questions are no longer limited to interest rates or account-opening requirements. They want to know: How good is the internet banking app? What do I get beyond the account itself? Is it convenient? And why should I choose this bank when almost every other bank offers something similar?

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This is how customers are beginning to think about banking. They are not simply looking for a place to deposit money or a source of funds when they need a loan. They are looking for convenience, relevance and value.

This changing behaviour makes retail banking increasingly important in Bangladesh. Banks are also looking to diversify their portfolios following the concentration and asset-quality challenges associated with large corporate exposures. Retail lending, by contrast, is built on thousands of smaller loans across different customer segments.

Similarly, retail deposits come from a broad base of individual customers. This granularity allows banks to spread risk more effectively rather than depending heavily on a small number of large relationships.

But I believe the real opportunity lies in how we develop retail products. Product development today, particularly in Bangladesh, needs to be segment-based. One product cannot fit everyone.

Consider the younger generation. In Bangladesh, people aged 15–24 account for around 19 percent of the population. They are digitally connected and have very different expectations from previous generations. Their approach to choosing a bank is unlikely to be the same as that of their parents.

This is why product teams cannot design meaningful products by sitting at head office and relying only on conventional assumptions. We need to understand the customer pulse through research, surveys, behavioural data and, most importantly, regular connection with the market and frontline teams.

The success of mobile financial services (MFS) offers a powerful lesson. By reducing entry barriers and taking financial services closer to people's everyday lives, MFS has achieved remarkable scale. Registered MFS accounts reached around 250 million, although this includes multiple accounts held by the same person. By April 2026, Bangladesh Bank reported more than 254 million registered MFS accounts.

The lesson is simple: understand the customer, remove friction and create value.

Most banks offer similar savings, deposits, personal loans, cards and other products. Therefore, the product itself is only part of the proposition. What increasingly differentiates one institution from another is the value attached to the product, the convenience of the experience, the quality of service, and the trust and reputation of the organisation.

The future of retail banking will belong to those who understand that customers do not simply buy banking products. They choose experiences, solutions and value.

The writer is the head of product, retail banking, at Meghna Bank PLC.