Winning the Past and Losing the Future

Many banks today hold a meaningful share in legacy markets that are now low or no growth, and a meaningless share in nearby growth markets.

That’s a fast track to irrelevance.

Defending everything is the same as choosing nothing.

You end up spreading time, talent, and capital too thin. The legacy business gets overfunded, while the future gets underfunded. Growth quietly stalls.

Rebuild your plan around four decisions

Don’t ask “What can we afford to add?” Ask these four questions instead.

1. Extend the Line: What in the legacy business still earns its keep? Protect margins. Raise the bar on efficiency and experience.

2. Bend the Line: Where can we push into a closely related use case or segment with a real edge to grow faster?

3. Transcend the Line: What two or three bets build tomorrow’s relevance?

4. End of the Line. What projects, products, and reports no longer serve the mission. Free the resources. Say it plainly and track the savings.

The hardest part is the last part. Stopping is a leadership decision, not a spreadsheet decision.

Focus beats footprint

You do not need to win everywhere. But you do need to win somewhere for a clear reason.

The banks making progress are trading breadth for depth. They are stepping away from the reflex to chase “share of wallet” in every segment. They are choosing a small number of customer problems, in specific markets, where they can become meaningfully different and measurably better.

It’s not about walking away from the legacy markets, it’s right-sizing the resource allocation so it so it can fund what is next.

How to choose where you can still win

One quick and simple test you can run is to ask yourself a few simple questions about your markets and initiatives.

1. Attractiveness. Is this market growing at a rate that matters over the next three to five years? Are there profit pools we can access?

2. Advantage. Can we be one of the very few who are clearly better for a specific customer and job to be done? Not a tie. Not “good service.” A real edge.

3. Access. Do we have, or can we reasonably build, a path to customers that is cost effective? Distribution, partnerships, data, talent.

4. Activation. Can we reallocate sufficient resources in the next two planning cycles without breaking the franchise?

If a market does not score high on at least three of the four, it is a distraction. If it scores high, it deserves a plan that concentrates resources, leadership attention, and accountability.

Measure what matters

If you want organic growth, measure what produces it.

• Segment-level growth and share. Not bank-wide averages.

• New-to-bank revenue and unit economics. CAC, payback, lifetime margin.

• Time and capital reallocation. Percent of spend moved from legacy to growth in the last two quarters.

• Cycle time from insight to change. Days from customer finding to live improvement.

• Customer problem solved. A plain-language definition of the job you are winning, and proof that you are winning it.

If you cannot see these numbers easily, you are managing narratives, not strategy.

What this means in practice

In mature markets, keep the legacy business healthy, simple, and cash generative. Standardize and automate where possible. Use that surplus to fund targeted positions in growth markets where you can become the obvious choice for a specific customer and problem.

In growth markets, do not scatter seeds. Plant deliberately.

Narrow the segment, deepen the relevance, and earn the right to scale.

Relevance comes first. Scale follows.

The question every prospective customer is asking

Why should I choose you?

If your answer leans on your history, your product list, or “great service,” you have work to do.

The winners I see are answering in concrete terms that matter now. Faster onboarding for this use case. Better controls for this role. Clearer cash flow visibility for this type of business. Lower total cost for this pattern of transactions.

Pick your edge, prove it, and concentrate.

A closing note for planning season

Strategy is not about doing more. It is about making better choices and backing them with resources, timing, and courage.

You will not protect yesterday’s profits and build tomorrow’s relevance with the same plan.

Choose where you still deserve to win. Choose what you will stop. Fund the future on purpose.