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Outlines the adaptation process in the distribution channel structure of the retail banking sector as a consequence of the introduction of electronic channels, such as telephone banking, PC banking and Internet banking. Based on responses from 42 retail banks in Denmark, their distribution channel strategies are described and their relation to selected marketing mix elements is examined. Most Danish retail banks attach decisive importance to offering a customer‐friendly PC bank service, whereas fewer of them attach the same importance to telephone, Internet and branch banking. A multiple channel strategy combining several channels is the most popular.

Neither market orientation nor the possible link to performance is easily achieved and in various countries companies may organize differently to cope with the information‐processing and customer‐responding challenges. Nationwide surveys in banks in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden indicate that a path to performance involves innovations such as “supported empowerment” though there are differences in the antecedents of market orientation. Thus the most distinct Scandinavian ways to improvements may be found in Sweden. Especially Swedish banks and to a lesser extent Finnish banks are upfront in their use of “the technology of customer‐focusing”. Nevertheless, the overall analyses based on rigorous structural equation modeling lead to the estimation of a model reflecting causal relationships which seem to be independent of nationality.

In the retail financial sector competitive pressure seems to challenge traditional management accounting systems, which often do not allow the identification of profitable customer relationships. Drawing on a stage model and data from management accountants, branch managers and frontline employees in Danish financial service companies, this article investigates barriers to the implementation of customer‐oriented management accounting. The article documents how financial institutions are increasingly integrating management accounting systems with customer‐related activities thus enabling customer profitability analyses. However, several barriers related to organization structure, resources and attitudes hamper further customer‐oriented changes. Data gathered at the branch level strongly indicate problems of ownership and project sponsoring, and it is argued that new accounting systems may be less important to customer orientation than empowerment and goal‐oriented participation of the frontline employees.

Internet banking is now such a well‐established fact in the most developed countries that it is possible to map its actual role in customer relations. Inspired by the resource‐based view of the firm and based on a recent empirical study in the banking industry in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, this paper traces important antecedents of Internet banking adoption and analyses its impact on relationship‐marketing performance. Based on structural equation modeling, the findings offer some support for the view that the more advanced Internet applications adopted and the more attractive the Web site, the more the banks are able to keep profitable customers. However, the results question whether it pays to be a first‐mover and organizational factors related to market orientation and customer‐relationship management seem to have a much stronger impact on customer‐related performance.