The retail banking industry (which for the purposes of this report includes building societies) is undergoing significant change. For so long seen as a sector of little dynamism, with the big five banks dominating the market, the industry is now being given a much-needed proverbial kick. Over 3 million customers are being “forced” to have a new banking experience, while easier account switching services are coming into play. At the same time, the lack of trust in the big high street names is damaging the reputation of the leading brands in the market. These developments could prompt a significant number of customers to re-evaluate their existing banking relationships, a trend aided by modern “word of mouth” social media technologies.
This report examines the journey undertaken by consumers when engaging with the banking industry. It concentrates strongly on the need for banks to introduce more personalised banking services to improve their engagement with customers along the customer’s journey and to improve loyalty.
Over 20 questions were asked in total, covering the following topics:
- The type of organisation consumers bank with
- How many companies consumers have current accounts with
- Which individual organisations consumers use for their current account(s)
- Which products consumers get from their current account provider
- Attitudes towards technology
- Biggest headaches when communicating with the main banking provider
- Preferred method of communicating with the main banking provider for different tasks
- Preferred method of online communicating with main banking provider for different tasks
- Types of comprehensive websites consumers prefer to use when undertaking different tasks
- The last time consumers visited their provider’s branch
- In-branch services consumers value the most
- Features of a paid-for advanced “personalised” banking services consumer value the most
- Whether consumers would be prepared to pay for personalised services
- How highly consumers rate the banking services from their main banking provider
- Factors that determine loyalty to a banking provider
- How main banking provider performs on service aspects which matter to account holders
- Important factors preventing account holders buying more products from their main financial services provider
- Attitudes towards banking providers in general.
Methodology
For this report, YouGov commissioned a survey among its online panel, drawing on a nationally representative sample of 2,465 current account holders in the UK aged 18+.
