Barclays on CX: winning through moments of truth, recovery, and human connection

Join Steven Ramirez, CEO of Beyond the Arc, and Mike Robinson, Head of Customer Experience at Barclays US Consumer Bank, as they discuss why customer experience is financial services is far from solved during FinvoateFall 2026. Mike shares Barclays' data showing that customer experience has actually declined as rising expectations from retail, travel, and other digital interactions push banking customers to demand more. The real battleground, he argues, is not when things go smoothly but when something goes wrong — the moments of truth where mishandling a fraud alert, a declined transaction, or a service failure can destroy trust in seconds. He outlines how Barclays uses triangulated data to personalize communications by channel, relevance, and urgency, and draws lessons from the airline industry's approach to designing for failure. Looking ahead, Mike sees the industry shifting from delivering banking products to embedding financial capabilities directly into the outcomes customers want, and says the human connection, even when AI-assisted, will be the ultimate differentiator. Key topics covered: • Rising digital expectations around CX and if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards • The shift from building banking products to embedding into customer outcomes • Where differentiation really happens • How mishandling a difficult interaction can destroy trust faster than ever • Personalizing communication by channel and context, not generic updates • Triangulating feedback, digital behavior, and call data to build customer profiles • Balancing soft communications (statement reminders) with urgent pushes (fraud alerts) • Learning from retail and airlines: personalization, designing for failure, recovery • Human connection as the future differentiator • Who will own the customer relationship in the next 1-3 years #finovate #aiinbanking #customerexperiencemanagement