Cracking the single customer view code in financial services marketing

Caroline Hodson, Managing Director at WoolfHodson, explores how to achieve a single customer view through incremental steps.

The Single Customer View (SCV) – the ultimate solution, promising seamless personalisation, smarter decision-making, and unparalleled operational efficiency, has been has long been perceived as the industry’s holy grail.

So why, despite years of effort and investment, are we still struggling to achieve it? Why are we still just talking about it, and why now?

The easy assumption is to attribute the renewed focus on Single Customer View to the significant growth of data and evolving technology. The increased volume and sophistication of customer touchpoints, digital channels, and complex product offerings have not only expanded its potential but also escalated the cost and complexity of its implementation.

However, these challenges alone do not fully explain why many financial organisations remain stuck in the planning phase.

Why many Single Customer View efforts miss the mark

The barriers no longer lie in convincing stakeholders of Single Customer View’s value. The business case is clear.

The true challenge lies in execution, which requires navigating complex regulatory landscapes, data security protocols, and regional compliance requirements that often hinder scalability.

The financial services industry is heavily regulated, with stringent data privacy and security regulations and these regulations present limitations in how customer data can be collected, stored, and shared across different departments and jurisdictions.

Ensuring compliance while attempting to consolidate data is not a simple task. Achieving a true Single Customer View that integrates all customer data across multiple products, regions, and regulatory frameworks is not just difficult – in many cases, it is unrealistic.

Different departments have varying data needs and priorities – what’s crucial for regulatory reporting may not align with what marketing teams need for personalised engagement. Additionally, the challenge of unifying sensitive customer data is compounded by discrepancies in data accuracy across different accounts and jurisdictions.

Scale further complicates the challenge. Financial organisations manage vast volumes of structured and unstructured data—transaction records, risk assessments, customer interactions, and many more. Harmonising these diverse data sources into a single, coherent system is filled with regulatory, technological, and cultural hurdles.

However, neglecting Single Customer View initiatives altogether comes with significant costs. Studies show that 82% of global B2B marketing decision makers agree that their customers expect personalised experiences and proactive engagement.

Single Customer View undoubtedly helps brands meet these expectations while reducing marketing spend, leading to greater efficiency and higher returns, but for leaders in financial services it presents a technically complex and risk-loaded undertaking.

Perfect is the enemy of progress

Too often, financial organisations embark on ambitious, enterprise-wide Single Customer View initiatives, aiming to establish a singular, unified view of the customer. However, the sheer scale of such efforts can quickly become overwhelming. Costs escalate, project scopes expand beyond initial expectations, and internal resistance grows as various stakeholders compete for control or express concerns about the perceived complexity and risks involved.

The issue isn’t ambition—it’s misdirection. Instead of chasing a mythical single truth about the customer it’s about defining what is truly useful by asking a far more valuable question:

“What version of the truth do we actually need – and how do we ensure that it delivers results”

Financial organisations don’t need a flawless Single Customer View – they need an approach tailored to their unique goals and regulatory landscape. Single Customer View should be viewed as a strategic framework rather than a rigid solution, and the first step towards building that framework is to start at the end and work backwards, asking:

• What are the outcomes you need to achieve?
• Which use cases matter most to your organisation?
• How can you align data strategies with compliance requirements?

Rather than trying to consolidate all data sources at once, focus needs to be on fit-for-purpose frameworks that deliver actionable insights aligned with key business objectives, whilst adhering to regulatory and compliance requirements.

Traditionally, organisations have relied on Enterprise Data Warehouses (EDWs) and Data Lakes to consolidate customer data, that were often cumbersome and costly. Today, modern Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) offer a more focused alternative, allowing to integrate structured, actionable customer insights in real time.

For financial organisations looking to create a fit-for-purpose Single Customer View, incorporating tools like CDPs can simplify the journey, allowing teams to prioritise the data that drives meaningful business outcomes. Because it isn’t about having every piece of data – it’s about asking the questions that get you the right data for the right purpose.

For instance:

• What data does marketing need to identify and target the right audiences effectively?
• What behavioural insights are going to help sales engage and convert leads?
• What lifecycle engagement patterns are the most important for delivering exceptional customer experiences?

Focusing on these targeted questions shifts the narrative from “we need all data” to “we need the right data to achieve our objectives.”

A targeted, outcome-driven approach like this narrows the scope, making it far more achievable and valuable. And by focusing on the data and the outcomes that matter most, you’re able to ensure that stakeholders can see the results right from the outset.

Big data, small steps

One of the biggest mistakes financial organisations make is trying to implement Single Customer View as a single, robust initiative. Instead, it should be built incrementally, prioritising high-impact areas first. The goal isn’t to try and solve every data challenge overnight, but to take the most practical, high-value steps that align most closely with your defined use cases.

What’s critical to accept from the outset is that the data will never be perfect. The key is in ensuring that whatever data you do have is at once actionable and relevant to your goals.

Whilst this approach makes Single Customer View more realistic and attainable, financial organisations still need to tread carefully as overstepping boundaries risks alienating customers with personalisation that can feel invasive. Privacy laws governing the use of personal data and addressing internal risk aversion must be navigated thoughtfully.

Success depends on embracing progress: building a dynamic, evolving capability that balances financial and ethical considerations while adapting to the changing needs of your organisation, your teams and your customers.

In a heavily regulated industry, Single Customer View initiatives must balance personalisation with data privacy and security requirements such as GDPR, CCPA, and financial conduct regulations.  Achieving a true Single Customer View requires a pragmatic, strategic approach that balances ambition with practicality. Rather than striving for perfection, it is more important to focus on incremental progress, ensuring that Single Customer View initiatives remain agile, compliant, and aligned with evolving business needs.

The Single Customer View isn’t just a technological challenge. It’s a strategic opportunity to align people, processes, and data in pursuit of better customer experiences, stronger compliance, and sustainable growth. And for those willing to take a more pragmatic and strategic approach to it, the rewards are more than impactful.