When opening a bank account, most clients look for the same things: a financial institution with plenty of security, reliable support, and a track record of fast transactions.
Australian institution Bank First had a long history of checking every box until early 2023, when its tech debt started to stack up, stalling content production and limiting the ability to innovate. Bank First’s Digital team was ready to transform the website into a powerful tool for Member acquisition, including their target market of education and healthcare sectors. However, their rigid content management system held them back. It was complex to use, costly to manage, and impossible to scale.
“If you wanted to make a change to a rate and it was in four spots, you’d have to find and update all of them individually,” shared Nicole Melbourne, Web Product Owner at Bank First.
The complexity of the process meant the Digital team was reliant on the skills of a single resource to make updates — but this wasn’t sustainable or scalable.
They also wanted to create more targeted, engaging experiences for current members and prospects. Bank First needed a tool that would modernize content on the front end and be easy to manage on the back end.
Finding a platform that’s powerful, not puzzling
Ready for a change, the Digital team researched CMS candidates and made a short list of their favorites. They requested several proposals, and Contentful stood out for its user-friendly interface and range of features that speed up how teams create, edit, and publish content.
“It was imperative that we move to a CMS that allows us to create quality content quickly and improve our agility and operational efficiency,” Nicole said.
For support in setting up Contentful, Bank First brought on NOW Digital as their development partner. Normally, transitions like this are met with the same enthusiasm as having to reset your bank login credentials. However, Nicole said working with NOW Digital and Contentful not only made the process pain-free but enjoyable. “We built the site together, working as a small team,” Nicole explained. “It was such a fun experience.”
Within 4 months, the site was fully migrated to Contentful — seamlessly.
Banking on flexibility and extensibility
On the new platform, Bank First is creating new content faster using flexible, customizable content modules — from new FAQs and educational articles to marketing campaigns. “We have the flexibility to design and deliver new digital experiences quickly and efficiently — free from the limitations of outdated software or maintenance challenges,” Nicole said.
It’s also a lot easier to make sitewide changes. For instance, Bank First completed a brand refresh in 2024. “Contentful allowed us to complete the rollout of our new design in weeks rather than months,” Nicole said. Finally, they have a CMS that can keep up with the pace of their business.
Another plus of their new platform and a flexible MACH architecture. Bank First’s Digital team was able to continue using the existing tools they used for marketing automation and search: Marketo and Algolia. With just a few clicks, they were integrated with the larger platform.
From content chaos to measurable clarity
Two years after switching to Contentful, Bank First’s Digital team has five team members accessing Contentful on a regular basis. “All team members are confident in using Contentful, no matter what level of expertise,” said Nicole.
At an organizational level, this means they can handle more requests faster.
Customers are reaping the benefits, too. Since migrating to Contentful, Bank First has observed reduced traffic to the “help” section, down by more than 50%, and fewer support calls.
Now that they have the fundamentals in place, they’re focused on making the site a more powerful tool for member acquisition, education, and engagement. They’re also looking into ways to utilize Contentful Personalization.
“By enhancing the Member experience online, we build stronger connections and trust to support our members in ways they expect and deserve," Nicole explained.
