Connect with the author: scott.musial@curinos.com
In the latest Curinos Quarterly Commercial Executive Summary, banks were asked about the market outlook for 2026. Over half said they expected increased competition for commercial deposits, the remainder said they expect the same, and none said that they anticipate less. It’s therefore not surprising that nearly two–thirds said that they’re foreseeing increased profitability challenges for commercial relationships (see chart). This sentiment is driven in part by sustained rate elevation needed to compete for large deposit balances on the margin, mirroring what Curinos observed in 2025, especially while rates stayed flat.
“Against the backdrop of anticipated further rate cuts in '26,
which of the following describes your stance?”
Source(s): Survey Responses
What can banks do to respond? For example, we asked how frequently RMs adjust credit relationships to balance profitability of the overall relationship, and 60% said rarely or never. But deposit and TM fee pricing are the two most impactful levers for protecting and growing relationship profitability, in large measure because they can be adjusted more quickly and frequently than loan pricing.
To win in 2026, getting relationship pricing “right” will be critical—and that means getting pricing right on the liability side of the balance sheet. To do so, commercial banks will need timely and granular pricing benchmarks, such as those available through tools like Curinos’ Commercial Analyzer, that can be segmented across multiple variables including balance size, line of business and industry.
