From Fragmented to Intelligent: The Three Stages of Digital Engagement in Corporate Banking

The landscape of corporate banking is in flux. Customer expectations are shifting significantly due to a growing younger demographic (with millennial buyers now making up 73% of B2B purchasers), and their familiarity with digitally-enabled experiences—particularly in personal banking. As a result, they now expect the same level of experience from their corporate banks.

As Andre Zimmermann, our Head of Pre-Sales noticed, “Individuals in corporate banking… have had their expectations influenced by their experiences in retail banking, which is more digitally advanced.”

This shift in customer perspective means two things are immediately necessary for banks serving corporate customers to deliver in their customer experience: access and autonomy. 

As one commercial banking advisor from a top 50 global bank told us, “Digitalisation helps customers get things done quickly, which is particularly important for the younger generation, who want more immediate results.” 

To help navigate corporate banking’s development, we set out to develop a new model, examining digital maturity against these expectations: the Intelligent Engagement Maturity Model. 

The model defines three practical stages of corporate banking digital maturity: Fragmented, Streamlined, and Intelligent. We created the model through first-hand interviews and proprietary research with a wide range of banks, from globally recognised brands to SME-focused challengers. At each level, it gives you clear signals for where you are today and how to move to the next stage. 

Let’s take a look at an overview of the stages and their defining traits. 

Level 1: Fragmented Engagement

What does it look like?

Banks at this level have begun digitising services—but in silos. The result is inconsistent, transactional experiences that leave both customers and internal teams working around gaps.

Key traits to look out for

• Isolated digital channels with limited interoperability
• Manual, people-heavy processes at the core of key journeys
• Minimal personalisation beyond the basics
• Passive data collection that’s rarely leveraged to guide actions
• IT-led change, with CX teams and end users on the sidelines

Level 2: Streamlined Delivery

What does it look like?

At this next level, banks have unified key systems and raised the level of their digital services – laying the groundwork for consistent, user-centric engagement. Teams have begun to organise around journeys, rather than systems.

Key traits to look out for

• Unified portals for core corporate services
• Improved automation and data integration across steps
• Early personalisation and workflow optimisation
• Journey-oriented teams with clearer ownership
• Initial automated data processing for priority journeys

Level 3: Intelligent Orchestration

What does it look like?

At this advanced level, banks are actively designing services around customer needs, with modular platforms and real-time data delivering proactive, tailored experiences. Product, operations, and CX teams collaborate to interrogate data and improve journeys continuously.

Key traits to look out for

• Front-end control to create and adapt digital journeys with ease
• Advanced analytics and segmentation driving personalised engagement
• Modular, API-first platforms that accelerate innovation
• A culture of continuous improvement and co-creation with clients
• Agentic AI that automates key steps with integrated workflows

Why Moving Up Matters (and why now)

Whether you’re early on in your digital maturity journey or at an advanced stage, customers are already benchmarking you against retail and digital-first experiences. Attrition is the cost of standing still, as one Customer Sales Advisor we spoke to said: “We’re losing customers to those banks where customers don’t have to do anything physically.”

The upside of progress is measurable; we’ve seen customers achieve 10x faster onboarding and 50% lower process costs where we’ve been able to help them digitise customer journeys end-to-end.

Ultimately, intelligent engagement reframes the bank–client relationship. It turns banks into tech-enabled partners – precisely what corporate clients are now looking for. The advantages are clear – better customer experience, faster ROI, and less overheads on the bank’s side. 

Where does your bank stand? Explore our maturity model, including the effect on customer experience at each stage, common transformation challenges to face, and step-by-step blueprints to accelerate your digital evolution. Stay Tuned for the full report!