The Ultimate Guide to Flourish Checking

Part I: The Current State of Checking Accounts

For decades, checking accounts have been the front door to the customer relationship. But in today’s market, they’ve lost much of their power to differentiate. Nearly every institution offers some version of “free checking.” The product has become a commodity, something customers see as a utility rather than a source of value.

That commoditization creates two problems. 

• First, when everyone offers the same thing, loyalty disappears. If a competitor opens a branch closer to home or launches an online-only promotion, customers can switch without hesitation.

• Second, free accounts are harder to sustain. They made sense when NSF and overdraft fees reliably covered costs. But as regulators cap or eliminate those fees, free accounts turn into liabilities rather than relationship builders.

Some providers have tried to fill the gap with high-interest teaser rates or sign-up bonuses. 

Others lean on rewards programs that sound attractive but are hard to use or require customers to jump through hoops every month: minimum debit transactions, direct deposits, or repeated logins. 

These approaches generate perceived value, not real value, and often frustrate account holders when they can’t unlock the benefits.

The bottom line is this: traditional checking accounts aren’t enough for today’s customers, and they aren’t enough for today’s financial institutions either. To build long-term relationships and sustainable income, banks and credit unions need a new model; one that goes beyond utility and delivers tangible, everyday value.

Part II: What is Flourish Checking?

Flourish Checking is more than a new product. It’s a new way to think about checking. 

Instead of competing on teaser rates or hoping customers slip up and generate fees, Flourish is built on real value that people use and notice. At its core, Flourish Checking bundles everyday protections and savings into the account experience. 

Customers get services they already pay for elsewhere, but at a fraction of the cost:

• Identity theft protection: Comparable to LifeLock subscriptions that cost households $40 to $100 a month.

• Cell phone protection: Coverage that can replace AppleCare or carrier insurance, often $120 or more per year per device.

• Everyday digital discounts: Savings of $20 to $50 a month on groceries, dining, entertainment, and more.

• Travel perks: Benefits similar to what premium credit cards offer, built into a checking account.

The setup is simple. Enrollment happens in real time at the new account desk, taking just a few minutes. Customers can start using benefits immediately, with welcome offers designed to spark engagement on day one. Staff receive access too, so they can experience the value firsthand and become stronger advocates.

For institutions, Flourish Checking replaces outdated fee models with a sustainable subscription approach. Customers pay a modest monthly fee, typically $8-10, while saving far more on services they already use. 

That creates a win-win: account holders feel protected and rewarded, and institutions generate recurring non-interest income that doesn’t depend on overdrafts or market swings.

Customer Value in Action

The difference with Flourish isn’t just what’s included, it’s what customers actually save. Instead of paying for multiple subscriptions and coverages, they see those costs drop the moment they open the account.

• A two-person household paying $80-$120 a month for identity theft protection through LifeLock can cancel that expense and get stronger coverage inside their checking account.

• An AppleCare plan at $12-15 a month per phone is no longer necessary, because cell phone protection is already built in.

• Families regularly save $20-$50 a month on everyday purchases like groceries, gas, and dining just by using the digital offers in the app.

That means a customer paying $8-$10 a month for Flourish is often saving $50 or more in real household expenses. The value is concrete, measurable, and visible in their monthly budget.

Bottom line, Flourish transforms the checking account from a commodity into a loyalty engine. Customers see immediate value. Institutions see long-term stability. And both sides come out ahead.

Part III: The Business Case for Flourish Checking

Flourish Checking isn’t just about adding features to a checking account. It’s about solving the biggest business challenges financial institutions face today: recovering lost fee income, driving growth, and improving retention.

1. Recapturing Lost Fee Income

NSF and overdraft fees once carried a meaningful share of the balance sheet. But regulatory changes and customer backlash have sharply reduced that revenue. Free checking, which was viable when those fees could cover costs, is now difficult to sustain.

Flourish solves this by replacing penalty-driven fees with value-based subscription income. Instead of charging customers when they make mistakes, you provide them with services they already want and pay for elsewhere: identity protection, phone insurance, and everyday savings. 

Customers save money. Your institution earns $8-10 a month in stable, recurring, non-interest income. It’s a model that strengthens trust and creates margin without regulatory risk.

2. Driving Growth Through Differentiation

In a sea of sameness, most checking accounts blur together. Promotions like $300 sign-up bonuses or high teaser rates attract rate-chasers, not loyal customers. Competing providers like Strategy Core and Econo Check focus on perceived value and friction-heavy enrollment, hoping customers won’t actually use the benefits.

Flourish is different. It offers everyday protections and savings that are easy to access from day one. That difference matters at account opening, where prospective members are looking for a reason to choose you over the institution down the street. By turning a checking account into something that actively improves a customer’s daily life, you make growth less about promotions and more about real differentiation.

3. Improving Retention and Loyalty

Growth doesn’t mean much if customers don’t stay. Flourish creates that stickiness. Because customers save on real household expenses, they use the account frequently. They log into your app to activate offers, check discounts, and track savings. 

That consistent engagement strengthens relationships, turns accounts into primary status, and builds loyalty over time. But let’s go into that in more detail, in the next section. Because the story of customer retention and loyalty you can achieve through Flourish Checking is a powerful one.

Part IV: Build Customer Retention and Loyalty with Flourish Checking

For many institutions, the real challenge isn’t acquisition, it’s retention. Digital banks, fintech apps, and payment platforms make it easy for people to split their financial lives across multiple providers. When they do, your institution gets pushed into the background, treated like a secondary account.

Secondary users rarely stick around. They may keep an account open for convenience, but they’re not moving money through it, not engaging, and not building loyalty. Primary users are different. When customers use your account as their hub (direct deposits, bill pay, debit usage) they stay up to 50% longer and are far more profitable.

That’s what Flourish Checking is designed to deliver. 

Because it’s built around protections and savings that become part of daily life (identity theft monitoring, cell phone coverage, travel planning, and everyday discounts) customers rely on it regularly. If they leave, they have to replace those services elsewhere, often at a higher cost. That built-in reliance makes the account sticky.

And stickiness we talked about in the last chapter translates directly to loyalty. Customers who use your app weekly to check benefits or activate offers are less likely to churn, more likely to deepen their relationship, and more likely to recommend your institution to family and friends. Every interaction reinforces the relationship and extends lifespan, turning retention from a defensive metric into a long-term growth engine.

Part V: How Flourish Checking Compares to Other Options

When financial institutions look for ways to strengthen their checking lineup, a few common names come up: StrategyCorps, Econocheck, and Kasasa. Each has carved out a place in the market, but their models work differently from what Flourish delivers.

StrategyCorps and Econocheck

Both offer lifestyle benefit programs designed to add value beyond a basic account. Where they differ from Flourish is in how customers access and use those benefits.

• Enrollment: Many of their offerings require separate sign-ups, which can be cumbersome and may discourage customers from completing the process.

• Engagement: These programs often stop at enrollment. They don’t typically include ongoing promotions or reminders to encourage regular use.

• Flexibility: Some institutions report needing to enroll all accounts, limiting choice in how the product is deployed.

The result is that while the benefits are there, customers may not always see or experience them fully.

Kasasa

Kasasa takes a different approach, leaning on high advertised rates to capture attention. Customers can qualify for those rates, sometimes up to 4%, but only if they meet specific monthly requirements like debit transaction minimums, online banking logins, direct deposits, or e-statements.

That structure can work for some institutions, but it ties value to meeting conditions rather than to everyday ease of use.

Why Flourish Is Different

Flourish Checking was designed to be simple and consistent. Enrollment takes minutes at the new account desk, and customers start with welcome offers to encourage immediate use. Institutions can roll it out flexibly, and ongoing engagement campaigns keep benefits top of mind.

Most importantly, the value is built around everyday needs (identity protection, cell phone coverage, savings on groceries or dining) so customers notice and use it without extra effort.

Part VI: Frequently Asked Questions about Flourish Checking

When financial institutions consider new products, skepticism is natural. Here are the most common objections we hear about checking add-ons, and how Flourish addresses them.

“Don’t customers already get perks with their credit cards?”

It’s true that some premium cards include travel rewards or special offers. But only a small portion of your customer base holds those high-end cards. And even then, credit cards rarely cover full-scale protections like identity theft monitoring. Flourish brings those benefits to the mass market, so every account holder can access real protections and savings, not just a select few.

“Nobody actually uses those benefits.”

This concern comes from how early programs in this space were designed. Competitors often required customers to enroll separately for each benefit, across multiple websites, making it easy to give up. Flourish removes that friction. Enrollment happens in minutes at the new account desk, and welcome offers encourage immediate use. Plus, institutions run quarterly campaigns to keep customers engaged. Usage is the goal, not the exception.

“People won’t pay for checking.”

Customers already pay for many of these services out of pocket: identity protection, cell phone coverage, even discounts through third parties. Flourish replaces those expenses with one bundled account, typically at $8-$10 per month. Instead of feeling penalized, customers feel like they’re saving money while gaining convenience. That’s why adoption works: it’s not about selling a fee, it’s about shifting value back into the account.

From Objections to Opportunity

Each of these objections are understandable, and they point to the same underlying concern: institutions don’t want another product that looks good on paper but falls short in practice. That’s a smart worry to have. 

Flourish Checking was built with that in mind. It takes the friction out of enrollment, makes usage easy, and replaces costs customers already carry. Instead of adding complexity, it simplifies both the customer’s financial life and the institution’s path to sustainable income.

That shift (from skepticism to proven value) is what positions Flourish as more than a product. It’s a strategy for strengthening relationships, creating predictable revenue, and rethinking what a checking account can do.

Part VII: QDS as your Flourish Checking partner

The old checking playbook doesn’t work anymore. Free accounts, teaser rates, and overdraft fees might have sustained the past, but they can’t carry you forward. Customers expect more. Regulators demand more. And institutions need new ways to grow without sacrificing trust.

Flourish Checking is the answer. It transforms a basic account into a daily source of value for customers and a predictable source of non-interest income for your institution. It drives retention, turns secondary users into primary users, and creates loyalty that lasts.

Flourish Checking only works if it’s implemented well and supported over time. That’s why choosing the right partner matters. At QDS, we don’t hand you a product and walk away. 

We stay with you to make sure the program delivers: driving adoption, creating predictable income, and strengthening customer relationships. Our role is to help you turn Flourish Checking from an idea into a strategy that works in the real world.

For years, institutions have known us for ATMs and TCRs. 

But the truth is, our role has always been bigger than hardware. 

We’ve always positioned ourselves as partners who help you grow, adapt, and succeed. Flourish Checking is an extension of that mission. It’s not just about replacing lost fee income. It’s about helping you build stronger customer relationships, grow deposits, and create long-term loyalty.

When you work with QDS, you don’t just get a program dropped in your lap. You get a partner who helps make it real:

• Seamless implementation so your team can launch quickly and confidently.
• Staff training and adoption so everyone understands the value and can advocate for it organically with your customers.
• Marketing support and campaigns to keep utilization high.
• Data and reporting that show you how the program is performing and where to optimize.

We succeed when you succeed. That’s the philosophy behind Flourish Checking and every other service we provide. And this is just the start. Over time, our vision is to continue expanding Flourish into a broader suite of services that helps you strengthen relationships across your entire organization.

Checking doesn’t have to be a commodity. It can be a competitive advantage. Flourish is how you get there, and QDS is here to help you make it real. Let’s start a conversation about what Flourish Checking can do for you.