"As we've seen from the top performers on the Relatability Index, the winners are iterating their products and services quickly to meet user needs, creating mobile-first experiences that build loyalty, and are offering new ways of banking that puts flexibility and convenience front and center of the customer experience," BrandCap Director Lindsay Beltzer said. "Bringing relatability to life needs to become inherently part of the brand experience. If built through a progression of steps, by instilling competence, empathy, confidence, and character, the financial leaders of tomorrow have the potential to win over young audiences and develop lifetime loyalty, throughout their prime earning, spending, and borrowing years. It's an opportunity finance brands surely can't afford to miss."

The highest ranking brands in BrandCap's Financial Relatability Index were Goldman Sachs lending arm Marcus, Venmo, and Finn, which is a mobile-only bank by Chase.

"The top three financial brands are all digital-savvy brands that relate to their audiences by meeting, and often exceeding, their expectations of their products and services," BrandCap said.

The company also said that what drove relatability varied by generation. Members of Gen Z prioritized character and empathy, for example, but millennials prioritized confidence and competence. Among millennials, JP Morgan Chase, Venmo and Capital One were the most relatable, according to the index.

"This suggests that whilst millennials are at ease with digital banking they are less inclined to stray from traditional banking institutions, whilst Generation Z customers, a demographic known for its entrepreneurial and unconventional mind-set, are more at ease with trail-blazing, financial disrupter brands," it reported. "However, common to both cohorts is the relatability, or lack thereof, of big, traditional banks. HSBC, Wells Fargo, and TD Bank are among the least relatable brands within the index. In an era of cyber-attacks and digital fraud, customers want financial service providers to make honesty, ethical practices and transparent communication top priorities."