The literature has shown that convenience and flexibility in fulfilling customer needs in banking are key to successful banking relationships. Further, digitalization (namely, via third parties) will enable banking ecosystems to thrive in the future and are threatening current business models. The thesis investigates the deepening of current client relationships, which are known as the Hauptbankbeziehung in German. To gain a deeper relationship, it is necessary to serve customer needs and offering the right products and services.

This thesis is developed based on existing literature. Secondly, the existing definitions of the term “primary bank relationship” are outlined and addressed. Additionally, the influence of digitalization in the banking industry is assessed. This definition is based on the findings in the literature review and the expert and client interviews. For this thesis, three semi-structured expert interviews were conducted. Additionally, qualitative interviews with eight current non-primary relationship clients were conducted.

The analysis revealed a strong correlation between the different concepts identified in the interviews and the literature. It was found that a primary bank relationship is defined based on the financial institution where day-to-day operations are concluded and a payroll account is held. Further, the interviews found that primary bank relationships are seldom changed due to customer loyalty, even when customers are unsatisfied with their current primary banks. This thesis suggests introducing simple and transparent products and services. The client should be able to choose sources of interaction that increase the convenience of the relationship. Pain points for the clients, such as bureaucracy, should be minimized. Furthermore, since almost all of the interviewed clients were willing to change their current primary bank relationship, important life cycle events, such as retirement, should be explicitly addressed. To conclude, building trust in a banking relationship is key to boosting long-term relationships. This indicates that strong customer service and personalized service need to be provided over a long period.