Warning: scammers may call, email or message you on behalf of DNB. We are also aware of online videos and images – for example, of our current or former governor – that look genuine but are definitely fake. Don’t be taken in! DNB will never ask you for money or confidential information. Read more

Consumer multi-banking and bank cross-selling of financial services

Working paper 873
Working Papers
Read aloud

Published: 08 October 2026

By: Wilko Bolt Nicole Jonker

This paper investigates whether the primary current account that consumers typically use for their everyday shopping and banking transactions remains an effective cross-selling channel for banks amid digitalisation, regulatory reform and increased competition. Using a unique 2024 consumer survey of 2,326 Dutch consumers, we find no evidence of a broad structural decline in banks’ overall cross-selling opportunities in the Netherlands. The primary current account continues to “anchor” bank-customer relationships. However, this anchoring role varies by product category and consumer segment. Cross-selling has weakened for savings and investment products, while remaining relatively stable for mortgages. Furthermore, digitalisation is not only associated with more multi-banking but also supports financial product acquisition at the consumers’ main bank, suggesting that it does not uniformly erode incumbent banks’ cross-selling capacity. Consumer preferences are central: perceived benefits of single-banking strengthen cross-selling and reduce multi banking, whereas perceived transparency of financial conditions has a modest effect.

Keywords: Consumer behaviour; Retail banking; Cross-selling; Multi-banking; Digitalisation; Transparency
JEL codes D14; G21; G28; O33

Working paper no. 873

873 - Consumer multi-banking and bank cross-selling of financial services

1.1MB PDF
Download 873 - Consumer multi-banking and bank cross-selling of financial services

Research highlights:

1. The primary current account remains an important channel for bank cross-selling, with no evidence of a broad structural decline.

2. Cross-selling patterns differ across products: they are weaker for savings products and investment accounts among recent account-opening cohorts, but broadly stable for mortgages.

3. Digitalisation is associated with both cross-selling at the main bank and multi-banking, without shifting the relative balance away from the main bank.

4. Consumers who perceive greater benefits from single-banking are more likely to acquire products from their main bank and less likely to multi-bank.

5. Perceived ease of comparing financial conditions is not significantly associated with overall cross-selling or multi-banking.

Discover related articles