F&M Trust Bank

Turning new checking accounts into primary banking relationships

F&M Trust Bank partnered with NGDATA to identify newly opened checking account customers and activate them through targeted direct deposit enrollment campaigns — deepening primacy and long-term retention.

The challenge

New accounts were opening but not becoming primary relationships

F&M Trust, a trusted community bank serving south-central Pennsylvania for over a century, consistently attracted new checking account customers. But opening an account was only the first step. A significant portion of newly onboarded customers were not enrolling in direct deposit — leaving the
bank as a secondary or tertiary financial institution rather than a customer's primary banking home.

Without direct deposit, these relationships lacked the depth and stickiness that drives long-term retention. The marketing team knew the opportunity was there, but had no reliable way to identify which new customers hadn't yet enrolled, nor a scalable method to reach them with a relevant, timely
message.

F&M Trust needed a data-driven approach to close the gap between account opening and true customer primacy.

The solution

Using core data to identify and activate the right customers at the right time

F&M Trust implemented NGDATA's Intelligent Engagement Platform to connect directly with their core banking data and surface actionable customer insights. By analyzing account activity patterns — including the absence of recurring ACH credits that signal payroll direct deposit — NGDATA's platform was able to precisely identify new checking customers who had not yet enrolled in direct deposit.

Rather than sending broad, untargeted outreach, F&M Trust built personalized onboarding journeys that engaged these customers at the optimal moment in their early relationship with the bank. Messaging
highlighted the convenience and benefits of direct deposit, with clear calls to action and frictionless enrollment pathways delivered through each customer's preferred channel.

The campaign was continuously optimized using NGDATA's real-time reporting suite, allowing the F&M Trust marketing team to track enrollment progress, refine targeting, and maximize conversion throughout the campaign cycle.

The result

31.3% conversion and a stronger foundation for customer primacy

The campaign delivered a 31.3% conversion rate among new checking customers targeted for direct deposit enrollment — a meaningful result that reflects the power of precision targeting and timely engagement over mass outreach.

Direct deposit enrollment is one of the strongest indicators of customer primacy in retail banking. Customers who receive their paycheck through F&M Trust are significantly more likely to use the bank for everyday spending, savings, loans, and other financial products. Each conversion represents not just a single behavior change, but a long-term deepening of the customer relationship.

The partnership

Turning onboarding data into lasting relationships

The program has strengthened F&M Trust's ability to turn account openers into loyal, engaged customers — supporting retention goals, reducing early attrition, and building the kind of primary banking relationships that anchor households to the institution for years to come.

This partnership reflects F&M Trust's commitment to community-first banking: knowing your customers deeply, serving them personally, and growing alongside them as their financial lives evolve.

Campaign cycle: 2025 Q3