From compliance to campaigns: Data collaboration as Finserv’s Marketing Edge

The marketing landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Third-party cookies are limited, privacy laws are tightening, and consumer expectations are rising. For marketers in Australia's financial services sector – already operating in one of the most heavily regulated industries – this convergence can feel more like a clampdown than a catalyst.

But what if the opposite were true?

Financial services (FS) brands sit on a treasure trove of customer insight. From spending patterns to life stage indicators, they have the raw material to deliver incredibly tailored, meaningful customer experiences. Yet, historically, they've struggled to unlock this potential, due to high      risk, legacy systems, and a deep-seated fear of missteps in compliance.

As a result, FS marketing has remained frustratingly narrow: either broad, untargeted awareness campaigns or hyper-limited direct response aimed at pre-qualified audiences. The outcome is a competitive blind spot in an industry that can't afford to fall behind.

The compliance dilemma

It's right that financial institutions hold themselves to high standards - after all, trust is the foundation of the sector. But caution has created an ecosystem of siloed data, limited customer insight, and under-leveraged marketing. With Australia's Privacy Act overhaul fast approaching following the re-election of the Labor government, many brands are retreating even further from data-led marketing strategies – at precisely the moment they should be stepping into them.

What financial services marketers need today isn't to pull back from using their data, it's to find smarter, safer ways to unlock its full potential.

Enter data collaboration

This is where decentralised data collaboration comes in. At its core is the data clean room (DCR): a privacy-first environment that enables organisations to collaborate without moving, sharing, or exposing data.

Rather than transferring customer data to partners (and all the risk that entails), each party connects their datasets within a secure clean room. Insights are generated and activated, but the raw data never leaves its original environment. Control remains with the data owner. Privacy is baked in. Risk is reduced. And suddenly, collaboration becomes not just safe, but also scalable.

DCRs aren't simply a compliance solution (although they certainly tick that box). They're a performance enabler and potential growth engine. 

Real marketing impact: the use cases for FS

The power of data collaboration comes to life in how it solves real marketing challenges:

• Audience suppression: One of the simplest and most effective tools in an FS marketer's kit. Suppress existing customers or ineligible audiences to avoid wasted spend, improve relevance, and protect vulnerable consumers from receiving inappropriate offers.
• Campaign planning and insights: Work with media partners to understand where your audience is most engaged – and then act on those insights without needing to share customer data.
• Cross-sell/upsell: Create more complete customer views to better time and tailor offers across products – without compromising compliance.
• Attribution and measurement: Accurately measure media effectiveness across channels, even in a cookieless environment, without exposing PII or relying on fragile identifiers.

Importantly, these aren't just theoretical use cases. FS brands that have embraced clean room technology are already seeing measurable gains. In the UK, for example, TSB has used InfoSum's platform to connect securely with media partners and drive smarter, more efficient marketing.

One collaboration with Global, the UK's largest commercial radio company, resulted in a 31% increase in applications for TSB's Spend and Save account, a 38% uplift in the number of people considering switching to TSB, and a 31% increase in the likelihood of switching bank or building society. And crucially, none of it required data to be shared or centralised.

The urgency of now

The clock is ticking. The second tranche of the Australian Privacy Act is expected soon, and while Google has      performed a U-turn on the depreciation of cookies in Chrome, the reality is that the industry is moving towards a more privacy-first approach. It certainly feels like we're shifting away from legacy targeting and measurement models and into the era of privacy-by-design marketing.

FS brands that delay action risk falling further behind – not just competitors, but customer expectations. Meanwhile, challenger banks and fintechs are already building modern, privacy-first marketing stacks designed for speed and adaptability.

CMOs and CTOs must align now. The technology exists. The use cases are proven. The only thing missing is the willingness to move from legacy systems to collaborative, decentralised frameworks that protect both performance and privacy.