BANCA SELLA ACCOUNTS GROW BY 60%

The Challenge

Banca Sella needed to break through a market where most banks were making the same offer, in the same way, to the same audience. Cashback had become so widespread that no brand stood out.

The bank wanted an approach that could attract high-intent new customers, strengthen brand awareness through a distinctive value proposition, express Banca Sella’s modern identity and customer-first values, and encourage ongoing engagement and cross-sell potential.

The challenge was to design an acquisition strategy that spoke to a diverse audience while still feeling personal, relevant and emotionally rewarding. Importantly, this all needed to be achieved without falling back on the techniques dominating the sector.

Why TLC

With decades of global financial services experience, TLC stood out for our commitment to understanding not just the bank’s business objectives, but the true motivations, preferences, and aspirations of its potential customers. Through detailed research and a survey of user attitudes toward promotions, we identified that consumers consistently perceive far greater value in experiences than in cashback – especially when they can choose rewards that reflect their own lifestyle.

This tailored concept built on deep customer understanding, as well as our departure from the industry’s cashback comfort zone, convinced Banca Sella that TLC was the right partner.

The TLC Approach

We translated our strategic insights into a fully personalized acquisition program built on three core pillars: broad appeal, simplicity, and speed.

The campaign offered new Start and Premium account holders €150 and €300 in experience credits respectively. These could be redeemed across more than 30 curated reward categories including travel, dining, wellness, digital entertainment, and food delivery.

The design ensured that every customer – regardless of age or lifestyle – found a personally meaningful reward. Perceived value of these rewards far exceeded the equivalent cashback cost, and the bank could reward customers with greater emotional impact at a fraction of their usual budget: a true win-win.

The result was an acquisition proposition capable of generating both excitement and long-term engagement. Customers felt in control with the ability to personalize their reward journey across a full 12-month window. Meanwhile, Banca Sella benefited from a distinctive, future-focused program that expressed its values and vision through a differentiated customer experience.