The data: Consumers are moderately satisfied with how their primary financial institution (FI) supports them throughout life events, according to a recent Jack Henry study. But satisfaction varies greatly by the type of event and its impact on the consumer.

Digging into the data: On average, consumers were satisfied with their primary FI’s support for 55% of all life events. At the top end, 80% were satisfied with efforts around managing a promotion or raise. But only 35% were satisfied during a job loss. Events like major purchases and expenses fell somewhere in between.

These results reinforce that FIs have two roles to play: one as a holistic financial advisor and another as an honest broker of products and services that the consumer finds relevant. Life events like a marriage or death in the family are complex and not tied directly to a product, instead requiring more abstract advisor services. But when a life event triggers a discrete financial need, the FI’s role—like originating a loan in the event of a car purchase—is concrete and familiar.

Our take: FI sales strategies can’t be built around products. Instead, they should facilitate financial journeys based on life events, as we explore in our June 2025 report, Future-Proofing Banking Through Customer-Centric Journeys. That entails FIs educating, advising, and supporting customers proactively, and selling products and services that are personalized to customers’ needs of the moment.