Table of Contents
- DATAMONITOR VIEW
- ANALYSIS
- The Financial Services Consumer Megatrend Framework is a vital tool for
analyzing and structuring consumer attitudes and behaviors
- A Megatrend framework is vital for financial services
- Customer retention as well as customer acquisition must also be
considered
- There are inherent obstacles in financial services that limit
innovation in customer targeting
- Price and performance have historically been relied upon as the
primary means of targeting customers
- Greater customer understanding can help to overcome the obstacles
encountered when targeting and communicating with customers
- The framework is defined by a series of consumer behaviors and
complexities
- The Megatrend framework has a hierarchy of trends and sub-trends
- The Megatrends hierarchy has no ranking at the global industry level
- The six behavior trends identify the benefits that consumers wish to
gain from a product or service
- The four Complexities are areas within which traditional assumptions or
measures of behavior can no longer be applied
- Trends are distinctly different from fads
- The existence of counter trends does not invalidate the trend
- 10 Megatrends that impact the actions and attitudes of financial services
customers have been defined
- Authenticity
- Comfort
- Connectivity
- Convenience
- Individualism
- Wellbeing
- Demographic Complexity
- Financial Intelligence Complexity
- Lifestage Complexity
- Wealth Complexity
- Lenders are covering most trends to a certain extent; however, there is
still plenty of capacity for greater innovation in UK online personal lending
- Lenders are most commonly targeting Convenience and Financial
Intelligence Complexity
- Despite Convenience being the focus for most loan sites, there are huge
missed opportunities
- There are many ways to target the Convenience Megatrend
- Financial Intelligence is an important trend, but appears to lack any
deliberate targeting
- More can be done to target Financial Intelligence
- Lenders use images to convey a sense of Comfort, but they could do more
- Providers can improve the manner in which they target the Comfort
trend
- Like the Comfort trend, lenders are using images to appeal to the
Wellbeing Megatrend
- The Wellbeing trend can be targeted in a variety of ways
- Few providers are successfully hitting the Lifestage Megatrend
- Changes in the traditional Lifestage boundaries are presenting
lenders with new opportunities
- Despite being a strong focus for some sites, Authenticityis another
area where improvements can be made
- There are at least two ways in which lenders can strengthen their
focus on Authenticity
- Most providers are not focusing on Wealth Complexity, but there are
ways to rectify this
- There are other methods that lenders could use to target their
offering to Wealth Complexity
- Lenders offer some coverage of the Individualism Megatrend,but there
is room for improvement
- There are elements of Individualism that lenders have so far failed
to exploit
- There is a disparity in the extent to which lenders cover the
Connectivity Megatrend
- Encouraging consumers to connect with a loan product is difficult,
but can be achieved
- UK lenders do not currently offer products that appeal to Demographic
Complexity
- Overall, HSBC, NatWest and RBS target a wide range of consumer attitudes
through the messages on their websites, whereas Abbey has a message that is
more focused on the key trends of Convenience and Wellbeing
- Abbey' s functional website places importance on the convenience of its
rapid application process and the environment
- Abbey is targeting customers who place a high value on convenience
- Abbey is targeting consumers who are seeking higher levels of
wellbeing by promoting its rates offering
- Surprisingly, the bank is one of the few UK lenders to promote a
green message through its banking operations
- Abbey is looking to encourage greater financial intelligence
- Abbey' s efforts to provide comfort for its customers are embodied by
its PPI offering
- The principal message from Alliance & Leicester' s website is
cheaper loans
- By promoting its rates, Alliance & Leicester is targeting
consumers who fall within the Wealth Complexity trend
- Alliance & Leicester is also pushing the simplicity and
convenience of its offering
- In order to appeal to the Connectivity trend, Alliance&
Leicester uses a panel showing the financial products that
other borrowers have taken out
- Alliance & Leicester promotes a feeling of wellbeing to its
customers through claiming that its loans can save money and improve
lifestyle
- Alliance & Leicester' s loan calculator may improve financial
intelligence
- A more subtle message is that consumers can take comfort from the
bank' s PPI
- Barclays' s website is informing consumers of the freedom a personal
loan could afford them
- Convenience is the key message on Barclays' s personal loans website
- Freedom to be individual is another of the website' s clear messages
- Barclays is promoting authenticity by focusing on its achievements
- The bank' s loan matching and PPI provide comfort to consumers
- Those with greater financial intelligence may be able to get an
improved deal with Barclays
- Barclays targets Wealth Complexity through its repayment matching
facility and premier loans offer
- Connectivity is an advantage for existing Barclays customers because
the loan application process is quicker
- Barclays' s suggestions for loan purpose promote the wellbeing aspect
of a personal loan
- The first message that visitors to Halifax' s loans website see regards
improved management of their finances
- Improving financial intelligence is the principal message on the
Halifax loans website
- Halifax' s message also strongly promotes a sense of wellbeing
- The Comfort trend is covered by a portfolio of PPIproducts
- Convenience is still a fairly strong message for the provider
- Halifax' s rate clarity appeals to the Authenticity trend
- Halifax targets individualism through its offer of a web dialogue
- Halifax' s smaller loan offer touches upon Wealth Complexity
- HSBC has a functional website emphasizing convenience for its standard
loan offering, but the more interesting layout for its non-standard
products reflects their innovation
- Convenience is the key message from HSBC
- HSBC is experimenting with innovative ideas which appeal to the
Authenticity trend
- HSBC' s four-part PPI offer may appeal to the consumer' s desire for
comfort
- The bank appeals to individualism through its professional studies
loan
- HSBC' s Professional Studies Loan also targets consumers within the
Lifestage Complexity trend
- Repayment holidays target financial intelligence
- HSBC suggests what consumers might do to improve their wellbeing
- The trend towards a sense of connectivity is targeted more in other
areas of the HSBC product portfolio
- Flexiloan hits the Wealth trend
- Lloyds TSB' s use of illustrations gives the personal loans website a
more cheerful and colorful feel, which reflects its focus on comfort and
wellbeing
- The Lloyds TSB loans site offers a feeling of comfort
- Wellbeing is another clear message from Lloyds TSB
- Convenience and flexibility are also key themes coming from the
website
- Lloyds TSB refers to its achievements in order to appeal to the
Authenticity trend
- The loan repayment holidays offered by Lloyds TSB meet the Financial
Intelligence Complexity
- Lloyds TSB pushes the idea of individualism through its personalized
quotes
- Connectivity is not a key message on the website
- Nationwide' s site is fairly functional and has clear messages on speed
and convenience of arrangement
- The Nationwide website' s key message is convenience
- Nationwide is keen to promote its authenticity credentials
- Nationwide is targeting improving financial intelligence
- Nationwide caters for changing wealth through its loan top-up facility
- The clarity of the website promotes wellbeing
- NatWest' s message focuses on the ease and convenience of getting a
loan, although it also hits other messages such as informing consumers
- Convenience is the principal message of NatWest' s website
- NatWest' s website highlights its strength in covering the Comfort
trend
- NatWest appeals to the Connectivity trend by offering favorable terms
for existing customers
- The bank offers favorable terms for those seeking to improve their
house, tapping into the Wellbeing trend
- NatWest' s ' exotic' offers tie in with the desire for authenticity
- The loans website promotes financial intelligence
- NatWest' s products demonstrate some flexibility over lifestage
- NatWest encourages individualism
- RBS shares much of the look, feel and focus of its website with NatWest
- Convenience is the key message from the RBS website
- RBS is also promoting the comfort factor of its offering
- RBS appeals to the Connectivity trend through favorable offers to
existing customers
- RBS is appealing to consumers by hinting at how a loan may improve
wellbeing
- RBS promotes its award winning PPI to appeal to the Authenticity trend
- RBS' s private banking website appeals to the other side of Wealth
Complexity
- RBS encourages financial intelligence through its loans calculator
- RBS does not discriminate on lifestage in its loan offering
- Chatting with an expert appeals to the need for individualism
- APPENDIX
- Definitions
- Authenticity
- Comfort
- Connectivity
- Convenience
- Individualism
- Wellbeing
- Demographic Complexity
- Financial Intelligence Complexity
- Lifestage Complexity
- Wealth Complexity
- Further reading
- Ask the analyst
- Datamonitor consulting
- Disclaimer
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: A financial services company can pitch its level of customer
understanding at various stages depending on the company' s sophistication
- Figure 2: The Megatrend framework has a hierarchy of trends and sub-trends
- Figure 3: There are 10 Megatrends, given in alphabetical order
- Figure 4: Megatrends by provider ranked in order of strength of message
on website
- Figure 5: Abbey' s website informs consumers of when they should be
considering, for example, a green loan. It also has a fairly prominent loans
calculator
- Figure 6: Barclays' website emphasizes the convenience of its loans and
quality of loan protection
- Figure 7: Halifax' s website gives consumers an indication of the APR
range and a loans calculator
- Figure 8: HSBC' s Professional Studies Loan allows flexible repayments
- Figure 9: Lloyds TSB' s website emphasizes what can be done with an
unsecured personal loan
- Figure 10: Nationwide' s website has a loan calculator in the middle with
panels showing key features
- Figure 11: Nationwide' s summary page shows key product features in a
table format
- Figure 12: RBS' s website has a clear loans calculator and images to
promote what can be achieved with a loan
|
Related Report
|
View Cart
