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Changes in consumer behavior – including a growing distrust of financial advisers – are driving the rise of robo advisers, says Gauthier Vincent, a consultant with Deloitte.

Regulatory burdens (particularly the Durbin interchange cap), stubbornly low interest rates and a slow, expensive transition from branch to digital banking mean only the wealthy and the desperate are attractive customers, says Todd Baker of Broadmoor Consulting.

"Nobody really paid attention" when the technology for algorithmic portfolio management and investment advice was developed five years ago, says Gauthier Vincent of Deloitte. But now that robo startups are all the rage, retail banks want in.

The best way to navigate through a rough patch is to proactively communicate with employees, says Mariner Kemper, chairman and chief executive of UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., which last fall overhauled its executive team and announced a major initiative to control costs.