Rethinking Relevance in Banking - The Yellowstone Analogy

By Rik Coeckelbergs, Founder and Managing Director of The Banking Scene

In a world where trust is fragile and transformation is relentless, banks face a critical question: How do we remain relevant? Relevance isn’t just about being present in customers’ lives—it’s about being indispensable in moments that matter. And as Yellowstone reminds us, relevance built on legacy without adaptation is a ticking time bomb.

Yes, Yellowstone— the neo-Western Netflix hit exploring themes of power, family, and survival in contemporary Montana—serves as a relevant perspective for banking. Fundamentally, it revolves around the struggle to protect legacy and rethink the relevance of that legacy in a rapidly changing world that outpaces its characters' willingness to adapt. 

Sound familiar?

Legacy as Strength—and Liability

John Dutton, patriarch of the Yellowstone ranch, clings to tradition. His empire, like many legacy banks, was built over generations. Over time, he has woven himself in society to protect the values he stands for, and for survival. It represents stability, history, and identity. 

But those same foundations often become walls—blocking new thinking, resisting necessary change. I guess you feel where I’m getting at, don’t you?

Many incumbent banks find themselves in Dutton’s boots: sitting atop valuable assets (trust, licences, customer data), members of numerous organisations and associations, and observing challengers and digital players encroach. There’s a natural instinct to protect the core, to resist dilution. But what Yellowstone teaches us is that survival by resistance alone is futile. To survive, institutions must evolve.

Relevance in banking is not about abandoning legacy—it’s about redefining it for a new era.

The Duttons are in a constant state of siege—legal threats, corporate land grabs, family rifts, and generational trauma. Their world is never calm, and neither is the banking industry.

They do things that way because they always did, a truth from Yellowstone, as much as it is from many internal work ethics in banks. Cultural legacy…

Between regulatory shifts, rising fraud, AI disruptions, climate risk, and fintech threats, today’s banking environment feels like the frontier. The mistake many make is treating this turbulence as temporary—a storm to weather before returning to "normal." But like the Duttons, banks must accept: the fight never ends. The terrain is the strategy.

In this state of constant change, relevance is about building resilience, and about making bold moves even when the future is murky.

Short-Term Firefighting vs. Generational Stewardship

Beth Dutton is fiercely intelligent, ruthless in the short term, but emotionally scarred by past decisions. Jamie Dutton is calculating and politically agile, but disconnected from the heart of the family. Kayce Dutton represents empathy, duty, and a more adaptive future—but he’s often sidelined.

These internal conflicts echo many banks’ internal tensions: compliance vs. innovation, cost control vs. customer experience, legacy systems vs. agile thinking.

Leadership focused solely on the quarterly fires—like Beth or Jamie—may win short-term battles, but they seldom build enduring institutions. Relevance requires a Kayce mindset: listening, evolving, and prioritising what customers and communities truly need, or, as I describe in my book: ethos (more on that in “A New Ethos in Banking – Embracing Values and Ethics for a Meaningful Transformation”).

Tech and AI: The New Land Rush

In Yellowstone, the ranch’s biggest threat is not cattle theft—it’s real estate developers and tech billionaires who see the land as an “under-utilized asset.” Agents that see those same assets through another lens.

Money is today’s equivalent of that land, but maybe much more: data. For banks, they represent both a threat and an opportunity. Used wisely, AI in combination with that data can deepen customer understanding, improve risk decisions, and create seamless experiences. But when tech is used only to extract value rather than to serve—when customers become data points, not people—banks risk becoming the very villains they once stood against.

Relevance in the AI age means remembering this: just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Innovation must be anchored in ethics, care, and trust.

The Real Fight is for Trust, Not Territory

In Yellowstone, every land deal, political play, or act of violence comes down to one thing: Who do you trust? And who will be there when the dust settles?

That’s the same fight playing out in banking today. Customers have more choices than ever, but fewer reasons to trust. They want more than products—they want partners. They don’t want generic offers—they want relevance in their context.

Banks that build trust, not just through branding, but through behaviour, will win. And that means showing up when it counts, owning your mistakes, being transparent with AI, and solving real problems—not just cross-selling.

Conclusion: You Can’t Fence in the Future

Yellowstone is ultimately about the tension between preservation and progress. Banks face the same dilemma. But the lesson is clear: you can’t fence in the future. You can fight to preserve your legacy, but relevance requires a new kind of leadership—one rooted in purpose, not just power.

You don’t win relevance by resisting change. You earn it by making change meaningful.

The banks that thrive will be those that evolve with the grit of John, the empathy of Kayce, and the vision to know when it’s time to ride a different trail.