Gabriele Buffo is a member of the Harvard Innovation Lab, which specializes in bank transformation and Super app solutions.
In all innovations in FinTech, the banking sector remains bound to outdated metrics. Credit scores, income clips and output levels continue to dominate the ratings of trustworthiness. But in 2025 it is not her salary that should make it bank bar, but her behavior.
It is time for a financial system that not only spends how much you spend, but how you live.
Banks are exposed to an existential dilemma today. On the one hand, Agile Super apps are dominated in markets like China. They bundle trade, lifestyle and payments into seamless ecosystems. On the other hand, 86% of US consumers If you expect brands a positive change towards sustainability, with 77% losing respect if brands do not prioritize our planet before their profits. And 63% of consumers choose to buy brands That matches your personal ethics. Traditional banks that offer points for purchases and fees for deposits are left behind.
Here is the unpleasant truth: If the banks want to remain relevant, they have to stop getting into technology and leading values.
Disclaimer: While I am currently aiming for a master’s degree in Data Science in Harvard, I am also a member of the Harvard Innovation Lab, which specializes in solutions for lifestyle and sustainability focusing, with which AI is used to reward sustainable lifestyle decisions.
Why outperform values
The digitization of services or offering elegant apps is no longer sufficient. Gen z and many millennials are increasingly choosing Financial institutes and bank partners based on their values. You want to make sure that if you make conscious decisions to reduce waste, eat healthier or choose ethical products, your banknotices and worries.
We reward AirPresent Luxury expensesAnd Stock trade. Why not reducing carbon, mindfulness or sustainable food selection?
There is a more intelligent, future loyalty model: one that integrates environmental, social and governance signals that integrated, segmented, segmented and rewarded directly into the way in which customers are evaluated. This is not charity. It is business. The targeted commitment builds deeper loyalty, shows new cross-sell opportunities (such as: Öko-Loans for EVS) and even opens the door to alternative credit risk indicators (e.g. ,, Rental payments and pension calculations).
Some may take the idea back to embed lifestyle decisions in financial products and argue that it is invasive or biased. You can refuse that financial incentives of behaviors such as wellness or CO2 effects could exceed a line and punish those who do not decide or cannot choose. But let’s be honest: banks are already rewarding the behavior. They only paid the wrong ones. The financial system has stimulated a long volume about values. That was okay at the age of plastic cards and paper statements. But today’s consumers live in ecosystems, not in Ledgers. You want your financial institutions to serve as a life partner, not just as a service provider.
The case for a behavior bank
A graded reward system that pursues and supports lifestyles with a low impact is more than possible: it is practical. Imagine a world in which someone who consistently drives public transit or improves his sleep is to contribute lower loan rates or higher savings. Or a platform that users accept sustainability goals and reward measures with real financial advantages.
These are not pipe dreams. The technology exists. What is missing is the institutional will.
There are early signs of movement in this direction. Future -oriented fintechs examine behavioral indicators that measure financial responsibility through the expenditure of people, not only how much they earn. Mastercard, for example, has developed a carbon calculator In collaboration with the Swedish FinTech Doctor. This tool enables consumers to pursue the CO2 footprint of their purchases directly within their bank apps and to help them make sound spending decisions. Over 50 banks worldwide integrated this tool and contributed millions of users to align their expenses with their environmental values.
A behavioral approach also enables banks to be more adaptable and human. Today’s models treat people who recover from financial setbacks, often risky, even if their daily behaviors show discipline and intentions. Of course, not all editions are the same. Wellness apps and public transit are not universal virtues, and what “positive” behavior looks like for a person can appear for another foremost or irrelevant. That is exactly why Nuance is important.
A high earner who ruthlessly spends without debt is not necessarily a better risk of credit than someone who carefully asks for dismissal. The goal is not to moralize the expenses: it is about contextualizing it. Personalization is tables in other industries. Why should the banking business still rely on blunt instruments such as static scores and raw income?
Banks have become digital for decades. The next jump is to become an ethical ally: not with vague ESG reports or net zero commitments, but through the actual product design. A real loyalty is deserved when reward systems reflect the values and efforts of the people.
This is not a feel -good story: it is survival
In A 2024 Accenture reportAnalysts warned that the banks lose customer loyalty and the distinction in the market if they no longer integrate into wider digital ecosystems. Meanwhile the Gen z generation sees your financial service provider As a reflection of your ethics, you can expect better transparency and a leading social change.
The shift is clear: consumers manage as well as money. You are not just looking for convenience. You are looking for orientation.
Banks that ignore this are already losing relevance; One of five consumers Switches the banks due to poor customer experiences and a lack of relevance. Banks that are now moving have a close but powerful way to not lead to the marketing language, but with product campaigns that reward the kind of decisions that the world needs more. This is no longer about positioning. It’s about durability.
The future of the banking business is defined by trust, not only trust in security, but also trust in values, visions and common purposes. The banks that this profit win will be brave enough to say that what you think is more important than what you deserve.
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