While many banks try to appeal to everyone with generic value propositions, Tennessee-based Sonata Bank has adopted a niche approach. The bank is filling a need in the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry where employee turnover rates are sky-high. It works with its customers to lower staffing costs by avoiding recruitment, training, and hiring – delivering a bottom-line impact that can be life-changing for these businesses.
It’s betting on simple, frictionless experiences.
Sonata’s own board is comprised of quick-service restaurant franchise owners, including the Chairman, who has run a Taco Bell franchise for around 40 years. So they understand the employee turnover challenge. And while there are many reasons behind it, there was one issue the bank could address: Most employees lack solid financial management skills and struggle to make ends meet.
Sonata had adopted Jack Henry’s Open Anywhere solution for speedy account opening but needed an account activation (onboarding) solution to ensure the relationships become profitable. The Sonata team recognized a follow-on problem standing in their way: Employees weren’t using the accounts they opened, especially the financially underserved and those unfamiliar with navigating the U.S. banking system, including first- and second-generation immigrants.
To ensure that fast-food employees can adopt banking services and get up and running immediately, the bank will leverage the Digital Onboarding engagement platform. It’s designed for this purpose. It removes friction and makes financial products easy to understand and adopt. Sonata’s model is to scale with technology and automate processes to create efficiency gains.
The Digital Onboarding platform is a key part of its strategy. While the bank did consider building its own solution, the team concluded that the Digital Onboarding platform offered a more holistic and personalized approach. It will allow the bank to scale faster and deliver a better experience for low-income and young franchise employees.
The bank designed unique benefits that resonate with employees.
Sonata will make its accounts portable since the average employee tenure is short. It’s also developing a benefits platform attached to a customized checking account with unique benefits:
- Spending account without check writing privileges or NSF fees
- Early wage access, which allows employees to receive a portion of their salary the next day
- Insurance products such as roadside assistance and cell phone insurance
- Bill pay assistance
- Identity theft protection
- Free telehealth & mental health therapy
The benefits application is expected to be released early 2025.
Sonata caters to franchise owners with equipment loans.
The bank also plans to serve franchise owners directly with a lending platform that offers SBA micro equipment loans. Not only is Sonata cutting costs by reducing employee turnover, but it’s also helping business owners grow with access to capital.
Simple experiences drive engagement which drives profits.
Sonata knows that offering unique products with tailored benefits isn’t enough. To build deep relationships that last, the bank must be easy to do business with. By delivering personalized, digital experiences and tools that make it easy to adopt more products and services, Sonata Bank is carving out a niche that traditional banks have long overlooked.
With 30 years of marketing experience, Laurie has created winning strategies for megabanks, community institutions, and neobanks. She is passionate about helping community institutions stand out and succeed in commoditized industries like banking. Laurie previously led Marketing for Andera, the company that created the nation’s first digital account opening platform. She now leads Marketing at Digital Onboarding, which helps community banks and credit unions build engaged and profitable relationships automatically.