Customer experience (CX) has become the defining battleground for banks worldwide. As digital-first challengers and fintechs continue to raise the bar, traditional banks are under increasing pressure to deliver seamless, personalized, and emotionally resonant experiences across every touchpoint. Yet, despite significant investment, many banks struggle to measure CX in a way that reliably links improvements to business growth. Traditional metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) offer a high-level view but fall short in providing actionable insights for prioritizing investments or understanding the true drivers of customer loyalty and growth.
To address this gap, Publicis Sapient has developed the Customer Experience Growth Index (CXGX)—a new, data-driven framework designed to help banks rigorously measure CX, identify high-impact investment opportunities, and directly connect customer experience improvements to business outcomes.
The urgency for a new approach is clear. According to industry research, 89% of companies now compete primarily on customer experience, up from just 36% in 2010. In banking, this shift is driven by changing consumer expectations, the rise of digital channels, and the influence of experience leaders from outside the sector. As a result, banks are dedicating a significant share of their budgets to CX—often a quarter or more—yet many still rely on NPS as their primary metric. While NPS is useful for benchmarking, it lacks the nuance to guide targeted investment or to explain which specific experiences drive customer growth and retention.
Banking CX leaders themselves recognize these limitations, noting that NPS is “not nuanced enough” and that there is a need to “track metrics that are proven to be leading indicators of great experiences.”
The CXGX, developed by Publicis Sapient, is a next-generation framework that goes beyond NPS by capturing the full spectrum of customer experience through three critical dimensions:
This methodology is applied across 11 key banking touchpoints—including mobile app, desktop website, live chat, call center, branch visit, email, and more—providing a granular, channel-specific view of customer interactions. By linking customer responses to specific touchpoints, banks can pinpoint which channels deliver the most positive (or negative) experiences and understand the emotional drivers behind customer perceptions.
What sets CXGX apart is its ability to correlate customer experience scores with actual business outcomes. Analysis of UK retail banks, for example, shows a strong positive relationship between a bank’s CXGX score and both future usage intention and net customer growth. Banks with higher CXGX scores are more likely to see increases in customer numbers, while those with lower scores risk customer attrition.
This predictive power makes CXGX a valuable tool for banks seeking to link CX investments to tangible business results.
CXGX is not just a measurement tool—it’s a decision-making engine. By mapping CXGX scores to both the quality of experience and the usage rate of each touchpoint, banks can identify two primary levers for improving their overall CX performance:
For example, one top-tier bank found that migrating just 5% of desktop website users to its high-performing mobile app would increase its overall CXGX score measurably. Similarly, shifting customers from lower-scoring call centers to higher-scoring live chat channels not only improved CX but also reduced operational costs.
CXGX’s unique focus on the “Three E’s” provides a richer, more actionable understanding of customer experience than traditional metrics. By capturing not just what happened, but how it compared to expectations and how it made customers feel, banks can:
For instance, analysis shows that live chat often delivers higher CXGX scores and more positive emotional responses than call centers, making it a prime candidate for investment and channel migration strategies.
Banks can use CXGX to:
For example, if a bank’s live chat channel scores significantly higher than its call center but is used by fewer customers, targeted marketing and customer education can drive adoption, improving both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Conversely, if a branch experience is a key driver of positive emotion for certain segments, banks can ensure that digital channels replicate the authenticity and humanity of in-person service.
While CXGX is already delivering actionable insights for leading banks, it is designed to evolve. As more data is collected across markets and over time, the framework will enable even more precise benchmarking, predictive analytics, and investment prioritization. Ultimately, CXGX aims to close the gap between what banks believe they deliver and what customers actually experience—empowering banks to make smarter, more impactful CX investments that drive sustainable growth.
Publicis Sapient is at the forefront of digital business transformation in financial services, partnering with over 100 leading banks worldwide. Our CXGX framework is just one example of how we help banks move beyond legacy metrics, harness data-driven insights, and build the customer-centric organizations of the future.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your customer experience investments? Contact Publicis Sapient to learn how the CX Growth Index can help your bank prioritize, measure, and accelerate CX-driven growth.