Wednesday, 28 January 2026 - As profit margins for consumer banks grow increasingly elusive, a new revenue stream is emerging: financial media networks (FMNs). Social media networks and streaming services have profited for years from selling advertising on their sites and apps to third-party brands – and now 60% of advertisers are shifting budgets from traditional promotional channels to retail media for precision targeting and measurable sales impact.

Banks are ideally positioned to cash in on the retail media gold rush.

Working with SAS, one European digital bank serving more than 6 million customers reported an annualised run rate of about $50 million from its FMN earlier this year – with performance tracking toward $100 million by early 2026.

"Banks are moving from personalisation to partner-sponsored personalisation," said Alex Kwiatkowski, Director of Financial Services at SAS. "They're using the same infrastructure and data that powers internal offers to deliver paid campaigns from commercial partners – creating a revenue engine layered on top of their existing marketing tech."

Retail banks evolve media strategies in 2026

"By the end of 2026, every major retail bank will have a media strategy, whether they call it that or not," predicted Cornelia Reitinger, Head of Advertising Business Development at SAS. "Banks that quietly tested the model over the past 12 to 18 months will begin reporting measurable revenue gains as advertisers and brands recognise the power of verified financial data."

Retail banks, which serve consumers and small businesses, have traditionally relied on interest income and fees for revenue. However, growing competition, shrinking margins and fluid regulation are forcing institutions to diversify. As they develop products and services to bolster profits and shareholder value, FMNs represent a lucrative new earnings stream and an innovation catalyst for commercial partners seeking growth.

"Institutions that operationalise financial media networks could realistically see a 20% – 30% uplift in noninterest income within two years," added Reitinger.

The untapped potential of media networks in consumer banking

Retail media networks (RMNs) first gained traction in 2012, when retailers began selling third-party ad placements across their digital and in-store channels – a model that now generates nearly $60 billion annually for Amazon alone.

A decade after the first RMNs emerged, fintech and banking goliaths adapted the same playbook to build retail media-style ad networks of their own, often referred to as bank media or FMNs. Klarna launched the first fintech-driven FMN in 2023. JPMorgan Chase's Chase Media Solutions, the first full-scale, bank-led FMN, debuted the following year. Chase currently delivers over 1.3 billion partner-personalised offers each month – and is projected to drive $11.6 billion in merchant spending by the end of 2025.

Momentum is building as the roster of institutions with bank media initiatives continues to grow. These bank-led models mirror the larger rise of commerce media, where verified first-party data fuels targeted engagement and measurable revenue. And with FMN ad spending poised to quadruple over the next two years, the opportunity isn't limited to the industry's mega players.

"While this is a newer concept for many small and medium-sized banks, some cutting-edge institutions have already created financial media networks built on SAS marketing and advertising technology," said Kwiatkowski. "This puts them at the forefront of an accelerating trend as they incorporate third-party offerings alongside their own in-house promotional campaigns – and they're quickly reaping the benefits."

Filling the "cookieless" void

As marketers and advertisers seek new, privacy-safe ways to reach the right consumers, at just the right time, FMNs uniquely position retail banks to fill digital marketing's cookieless void.

With frequent accountholder interactions and rich zero- and first-party data, institutions can turn their everyday channels – from online and mobile banking to ATMs and branches – into ad-supported, revenue-generating platforms.

According to Reitinger, banks with more than 3 to 5 million customers, strong digital engagement and loyalty programs are ideal FMN candidates. "If they have connected branches or e-commerce initiatives, even better," she said. "By establishing a media network, these banks can transform traditional loss-leaders like transaction accounts into profitable, data-driven assets."

Learn how SAS helps banks build financial media networks and accelerate their commerce media strategy by exploring the solution brief Transform Consumer Banking Into a Revenue Hub: Monetize Banking Platforms with SAS for Commerce Media.

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