From checking account to a platform for financial progress

ORIENTAL BANK
2025-2026

Product Strategy · Product Marketing · Product Campaign

The Challenge

Cuenta Libre had succeeded as an accessible checking account built around freedom from fees. That promise attracted customers, but it also limited the product’s role. Libre could be perceived as a low-cost place to hold money rather than the beginning of a broader relationship with Oriental.

The opportunity was to retain that accessibility while giving customers a reason to make Libre their primary account, add savings, and deepen their relationship with the bank.

The Insight

Many customers viewed banks as transactional and debt-driven. Fees created distrust, while rewards often felt designed for people who already had more money. But customers were already putting effort into their finances. They were working, managing obligations, and trying to gain more control and did not need another lecture about financial discipline. They needed an account that made their effort more valuable.


The Strategy

Translation: Impulse your savings. Activate Libre+ with your direct deposit.

Translation: $300. Your direct deposit gives you more with Libre+.

The proposition evolved from financial relief to financial progress.

Cuenta Libre remained the accessible starting point, with digital account opening, no maintenance fee, early access to qualifying direct deposits, ATM reimbursements, and loan discounts.

Libre Plus created a path forward. Customers who combined Libre with a savings account and qualifying direct deposit could unlock additional benefits, including a cash incentive and a higher savings rate.

The value exchange was simple:

As customers did more with their finances, the account returned more value.

Taking It to Market

The campaign, The account that works for you, gave the product a more human frame. Instead of leading with a list of banking features, the work recognized the people who arrived early, worked long shifts, and consistently showed up for others. The product benefits became evidence that the account was doing its part too.

Messaging was adapted for different audiences and stages, from first-time customers opening an accessible account to customers ready to add savings or activate direct deposit.

The Results

During the 2025 program window, Libre generated:

  • $24.4 million in net-new retail deposits

  • $70.6 million in total production

  • $1,033 average account balance

  • 66% quarter-over-quarter growth in digital account openings

The product gave Oriental a stronger entry point for new customers and a clearer path from everyday checking to a deeper financial relationship.

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Making premium banking feel earned rather than exclusive

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A new brand strategy for Oriental Bank in 2026