With just a few months left in 2025, it is a good time to reflect on your financial institution’s goals. Are you where you expected to be?

Let’s take a closer look at seven goals many community banks are working toward. For each, consider these timely questions as you assess your progress.

Goal 1: Grow Deposits

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency estimates a sluggish average deposit growth between 4-4.5% through the rest of 2025. That’s well below the post-pandemic heights of a few years ago.

Intense competition for accounts also remains an ongoing concern. Larger banks are offering higher yields and targeted incentives, while fintechs are winning deposit share with frictionless experiences.

Community banks may not always have the resources to compete with pricey incentives, but they do have tried-and-true ways to earn and keep deposits: by building relationships and through word-of-mouth referrals.

 Questions to ask:

• Are you focused on growing relationships or just total balances?
• Are you targeting high-value relationships through personal referrals?
• Is your digital account opening process frictionless?

Goal 2: Increase Engagement

In a market where switching institutions is easier than ever, customer trust and emotional connection are what keep account holders sticking around. And that’s built through strategic engagement. Engagement fuels loyalty. Loyalty drives profitability.

Consumers want more than transactions; they want value. For instance, research by Accenture revealed that 60% of banking customers desire relationship-based rewards, yet only 45% are satisfied with the rewards they receive.

 Questions to ask:

• Are your engagement strategies built around personalization, transparency and trust?
• What data do you use to track engagement?
• Are you using the best channels to reach account holders where they are?

Goal 3: Improve Consumer Liquidity

U.S. consumers are showing signs of financial strain amid higher prices, lower job confidence and more stringent lending requirements. Overdraft protection is something that many rely on to make ends meet between paychecks. And it’s a service that an overwhelming majority of consumers find valuable.

Financial institutions that offer smart consumer liquidity options can protect themselves from risk while maintaining account holder loyalty. Overdraft limits and short-term, small-dollar loans that use data intelligence to set limits based on an account holder’s repayment ability shield both parties from overextending themselves.

 Questions to ask:

• Are your consumer liquidity products fair, competitive and accessible?
• Do you have a data-backed strategy in place if borrowing behavior shifts quickly?
• Do your liquidity options follow best practices set by regulators?

Goal 4: Maintain Compliance

From a compliance standpoint, the first half of 2025 was unpredictable. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule was introduced in December 2024 that would cap overdraft fees between $3 and $14, with stricter disclosure requirements for overdraft loans applied to financial institutions with $10 billion or more in assets. Then, in May 2025, the White House overturned the rule.

Despite this softening of regulation, actual compliance pressure hasn’t disappeared. Community banks and credit unions still need to address regulatory rules and prepare in areas such as overdraft practices.

 Questions to ask:

• Are you auditing high-risk areas like overdraft, AI-enabled decision-making and consumer lending?
• How quickly can your financial institution respond to evolving regulatory expectations?
• Do you have access to a compliance expert who has their fingertips on the pulse of regulatory changes? 

Goal 5: Exceed Account Holder Expectations

Consumer expectations continue to climb across all industries. Today, just “average” service can cost you: 23% of consumers would be unlikely to return to a business after receiving merely satisfactory customer service. Service speed, digital ease and consistent support across channels are what define satisfaction today.

Your financial institution’s reputation, retention and referral potential depend on how well you meet these rising expectations – not just in-branch but in your app, over chat and everywhere in between.

 Questions to ask:

• Are you tracking satisfaction across digital, branch and contact center experiences?
• Have you compared your financial institution’s digital capabilities to competitors?
• What are you doing to stand out and create memorable experiences for account holders?

Goal 6: Increase Productivity

Community financial institutions are under pressure to do more, with less. Nearly 90% of surveyed financial institutions felt their processes could be more efficient, signaling a readiness to adopt productivity solutions.

 Banks that leverage automation, generative AI and third-party digital solutions can cut out inefficiencies and start delivering real value.

 Questions to ask:

• What processes could be automated in the next six months to cut costs, reduce turnaround time and/or free up more time for people to work on higher-value tasks?
• Are your teams equipped to use AI and automation tools effectively?

Goal 7: Optimize Tech Stack With Modern Solutions

Banks continue to move away from legacy technology in favor of open-source systems and cloud-native platforms to deliver the latest services to account holders. According to Accenture, this shift is enabling faster innovation and improved resilience.

Technical debt (the result of choosing speed or cheap fixes over scalable solutions) slows everything: innovation, compliance, customer experience and growth. Financial institutions that modernize their tech stack with proven software and open-source systems are better equipped to adapt, pivot, add new services and lower long-term operating costs.

 Questions to ask:

• Do your current and prospective tech solutions work seamlessly with your core system?
• Are you piloting data-intelligence tools that can help you meet growth, engagement and consumer liquidity goals?

Don’t Just Catch Up … Get Ahead

Reacting to market conditions will only keep you playing catch-up. Sustainable growth requires more than quick fixes: It demands holistic strategies rooted in deeper engagement and lasting relationships.

For an actionable guide on acquiring, retaining and engaging account holders effectively, download our white paper and start building long-term strategies that keep your institution ahead.