What the 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics Report Reveals About Driving Account Holder Adoption

Digital banking solutions have transitioned from a secondary touchpoint to the primary way consumers manage their financial lives. The 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics Report, commissioned by Alkami Technology and authored by Cornerstone Advisors (Cornerstone), reveals that success for regional and community financial institutions (RCFIs) is determined by how wisely they measure performance of digital solutions, how effectively they drive adoption, and continued usage of the technology they invest in.

In this seventh edition of the benchmarking report, the retail banking data highlights a clear divergence between financial institutions that view digital as a cost center and those that use it as a growth engine. Indicators are broadly encouraging:

• 87% of checking accounts are associated with active digital banking users, reflecting continued growth in digital banking adoption
• 82% of mobile banking users are actively engaged, reinforcing mobile as a primary channel for account holder interaction
• 51% of loan applications are now submitted through digital channels, marking a milestone for digital lending
• Financial institutions average 1.56 new products per digital banking user, highlighting the connection between engagement and growth

“Before declaring victory on efficiency, it’s worth asking what the trade-off has been. A platform that costs less per user and requires fewer staff to manage is only a success story if the user experience hasn’t quietly degraded in the process.” – Cornerstone’s Take (Page 3)

Research into the preferences of cross-generational account holders explains why this matters greatly:

• 50% of digital banking users said they would switch providers for a better digital experience, with 31% indicating they already have.
• 84% of consumers say digital banking experience quality is essential or important when considering a new primary financial provider.

Proving that RCFIs must move beyond basic transaction-based relationships to offering a compelling digital banking platform that encourages account holders to stay active and engaged.

How are retail account holders interacting with digital banking solutions today?

Digital engagement among retail banking solutions users is reaching new heights, with average active users as a percentage of checking accounts rising to 87% in 2025 (+10% in just two years). Mobile banking has officially cemented its place as the primary channel, as activation rates jumped from a three-year plateau of 73% to a significant 82% this past year. How does an average of 17 monthly digital log-ins compare to your in-branch visits or call-center volume by account holder?

Digital banking users are adding more new products compared to the household average, engaging more frequently with their institution on average, and account for more than half of all loan applications.

Features like chatbots, bill pay, mobile payments—when users make transactions using their mobile phones through applications (apps) that are linking their bank accounts, debit/credit cards, or digital wallets—and digitally opened checking accounts are also all on the up year-over-year. eStatement recipients climbed to 79% of active digital banking users, with 80% opting out of paper statements entirely. These upward trends illustrate that the digital banking platform is where account holders “live” financially.

For financial institutions, understanding these and other digital banking performance metrics represents a massive opportunity to leverage this vehicle for retention and acquisition. Ask the hard questions from your team—where is there an opportunity to drive more adoption? How can we remove friction from the process and keep consumers engaged in the experience?

Is digital account opening finally becoming the norm?

The 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics report finds that digital account opening is gaining momentum, but significant execution gaps remain. Digital checking account openings rose to 27% of all openings in 2025, up from 21% the previous year. However, abandonment remains a critical challenge, with an average of 3.36 applications abandoned for every one account successfully opened. A significant gap of nearly 9,000 potential new accounts unrealized.

An assertion that Cornerstone makes within this report is that digital account opening abandonment rates are most often a product of two factors: processing speed and user experience (UX) design. Explaining that friction at the point of application most often stems from identity verification hurdles requiring consumers to switch devices mid-flow to upload a document or call the branch. Institutions that successfully reduce this friction, even allowing applicants to return to an application mid-flow without having to start over, see the digital channel function as a funnel rather than a filter, capturing thousands of missed potential accounts.

For omnichannel account opening best practices, see our guide: Why Leading Financial Institutions Use One Platform to Open All Retail and Business Deposit Accounts

Can digital channels drive significant loan growth and cross-sale opportunities?

The digital channel is increasingly responsible for institutional growth, particularly in lending and relationship expansion. For the first time, Cornerstone found that digital consumer loan applications crossed the 50% threshold, hitting an average of 51% in 2025.

Furthermore, digital engagement is directly linked to product depth. On average, financial institutions expanded their relationship with digital users by 1.56 new products per user in 2025. This outpaced growth in the broader household base, suggesting that active digital banking users are the most embedded and valuable segment for a bank or credit union. This also proves that account holders are now comfortable managing complex financial needs entirely through digital interfaces.

Learn more about mastering cross-selling using artificial intelligence in banking.

See How Your Financial Institution Compares

The annual Digital Banking Performance Metrics reports are intended to give RCFI executives perspective. There’s no limit to what a financial institution could measure, especially as metrics should be tailored to an institution’s growth goals and strategy. However, the cost is in measuring the wrong things or measuring the right things without knowing how to turn those insights into action.

That’s what this report, and its metrics framework is for.

According to Cornerstone, financial institutions need a digital banking metrics framework that does three things:

• Focuses measurement on real-world outcomes, not just activity;
• Connects digital performance data to business goals;
• and distinguishes between metrics worth tracking and metrics worth managing to.

The competitive pressure on both sides of this report is real and accelerating. Institutions that will win in the next decade aren’t necessarily the ones with the best efficiency ratio or spending the most on digital banking solutions, but they’re the ones measuring the right metrics and moving on what they find.