The bundle economy: why subscription bundling is banking’s next loyalty play

Banks can boost loyalty by turning apps into subscription hubs. We sat down with Paul Larbey, CEO of Bango, to discover why bundling is the next big play in financial services.

What is subscription bundling and why should it be considered the next big loyalty driver for banks and wallet providers? What market shifts led Bango to enter this field?

Subscription bundling is about adding value to your core product by including – or bundling – third-party services with your first-party product and services. For a bank, that could mean wrapping entertainment, security, learning, or lifestyle subscriptions into a premium current account, billed and managed from inside the banking app. Even a single subscription increases the value of the account and gives customers a reason to stay engaged, adding another reason for them to stay as a customer.

But most people don’t just have one subscription – on average, subscribers are managing more than five subscriptions, worth USD 900 a year, spread across different providers, cards, and renewal dates. It’s fragmented and frustrating. That’s where Super Bundling makes the difference: bringing multiple subscriptions together in one place. One login, one bill, all managed through the bank. Suddenly, the banking app becomes the hub of someone’s digital life.

This is where loyalty is built. The more services tied into the account, the higher the satisfaction and the harder it is to leave. Telcos have already shown that bundling reduces churn dramatically. Banks can use the same playbook.

Traditional loyalty tactics – cashback, points, voucher codes – were transactions, not relationships. Customers redeem elsewhere, and the bank is quickly forgotten. Bundling is different because the services stay inside the account, month after month. These are not perks people activate once – they’re the services they rely on every week.

The opportunity is huge. In our Loyalty pays report, we found that nearly 70% of consumers already pay for at least one subscription through a third party, and almost half of content providers plan to partner with banks. Among younger consumers, almost half would switch banks for a better bundle. That’s why we built the Digital Vending Machine® – the product that makes bundling scalable. Customers want one hub, providers want access to millions of users, and banks need a loyalty driver stronger than cashback. We didn’t invent bundling; the market did. What we’ve done is build the way to deliver it.

According to your research, the average consumer manages more than 5 subscriptions and spends close to USD 900 per year. In what way does subscription fatigue create opportunities for financial institutions?

Subscription fatigue has created a gap. People often don’t remember what they’ve signed up to, or how they are paying for it. Nearly 30% of people are paying for subscriptions they don’t use – rising to 46% among 18–24-year-olds.

Banks are well placed to fix this. They already run the payment rails and see the card-on-file and direct debit transactions. By giving customers a single place in the app to view, manage, and cancel subscriptions, banks can reduce friction and create stickiness. If your bank becomes the hub for managing your digital life, you’re far less likely to move your main account.

There’s also a financial upside: cleaner payments mean fewer disputes, lower service costs, and a stronger ability to defend fee income.

Traditional loyalty is affected by one-tap switching. How can bundles and subscription hubs led by banks improve long-term customer relationships?

One-tap switching killed off traditional loyalty schemes. A free coffee or a few points won’t stop anyone from moving banks in seconds. The only way to retain customers now is to offer something they’d genuinely miss if they left.

Premium accounts are the obvious place to start. Customers are already paying for them, but most of the so-called benefits aren’t used. Swap out the token perks for subscriptions people actually use – streaming, fitness, security – and the package becomes more personal and meaningful. It’s much harder to walk away when those everyday services sit inside the account.

The data backs it up: customers with bundled services churn less (sometimes almost half as much), and satisfaction rises with every extra service. More bundled services, higher NPS, stronger loyalty. The choice for banks is simple: keep handing out perks no one values, or use bundling to make premium tiers truly sticky.

When looking at launching a branded subscription hub, what are the major pitfalls banks should watch out for?

One common pitfall is pushing customers off-platform with voucher codes or redirects. That kills the experience. Keep everything inside the app.

Another common mistake is focusing on volume over relevance or on assuming one high profile video streaming service will satisfy everyone. A catalogue of dozens of offers isn’t the answer. Customers want bundles that actually fit their lives. That requires using your knowledge of the customer to create highly personalised offers.

Eligibility is just as important. Not all customers are equal. A household with a mortgage, loan, and credit card should get more perks than someone with a basic account. The more first-party services a customer holds, the more third-party benefits you can layer in. That’s how you scale loyalty – by matching value with value.

The smartest banks will take it further, linking bundles to behaviours: keep your mortgage with us and get your preferred streaming service; pay your salary in and unlock fitness or security discounts; go paperless and get AI tools included. That turns bundling into a dynamic loyalty system where the more a customer gives to the bank, the more they get back.

How many subscription providers plan to bundle through banks? What makes such a partnership mutually beneficial and sustainable?

We surveyed over 200 subscription product leaders, and almost half of them plan to bundle through banks in the future. The telco industry has already proven the model works – bundling drives scale, reduces churn, and simplifies billing. Now, banks are positioned to take the same model and apply it to financial services.

The customer data makes the case clear: nearly a third of people say they’d switch banks for a better bundle, and among younger consumers, it’s almost half. One in five younger customers already take a subscription through their bank today, and just as many have cancelled direct subscriptions because their bank offered better value.

It’s a win for all sides. Content providers gain reach, banks gain relevance and new revenue, and customers get the simplicity they want. That’s why these partnerships stick – they’re not marketing gimmicks, they’re core to the relationship.

Looking at the future of the bundle economy, how do you see it evolving over the next 3–5 years? What is your best piece of advice for banks starting this journey?

In the next few years, bundles won’t be a 'nice-to-have add-on' – they’ll become the primary way people access services. Banking apps could evolve into everyday digital marketplaces where customers manage everything from entertainment and education to health and AI. That shift moves banks from the edge of customers’ digital lives to the centre.

For banks, this isn’t about following a trend – it’s about relevance. If customers only open your app once or twice a month, you’re just a utility. If they’re in it every week managing services they depend on, you become part of their routine.

The risk is clear: if you don’t offer it, someone else will – whether that’s another bank, a wallet, or a telco. And once customers build the habit elsewhere, it’s almost impossible to win them back.

Advice for banks starting out: focus on making bundling work inside the account, keep it simple for customers, and use your data to curate bundles that matter. Build loyalty by making the banking app the place people manage the digital services they can’t live without.

To dive deeper into the findings and see the full data behind this shift, download the Loyalty pays report here. 

About the interviewee

Paul joined Bango following his role as CEO at Velocix, a global leader in streaming technology. Paul grew Velocix from a small startup to the world's leading IP video streaming specialist. As CEO, Paul led the Velocix team through its integration into Alcatel-Lucent and then Nokia.

 

 

About the company

Bango enables content providers to reach more paying customers through global partnerships. By opening online payments to mobile phone users worldwide, Bango revolutionised monetisation. Today, the Digital Vending Machine® drives subscription growth, trusted by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others everywhere.