The Individualism Consumer Trend in Financial Services: Self-reliance

Introduction

Society encourages consumers to be increasingly self-reliant, with years of mass marketing and commoditization leaving consumers looking for personalized offerings. FS providers must enable consumers to express their individuality and their preferences through customizable products and services. Personalized messages are more noticeable to consumers who are constantly bombarded with marketing.

Features and benefits

* Command the consumer's attention through understanding how to cater to individual needs.
* Learn how to allow consumers to express their personal preferences with customizable products and services.
* Improve customer retention through understanding the consumer desire to be treated as an individual.

Highlights

Across all regions there is strong demand from consumers to be treated as an individual by their FS providers. The importance to consumers of being treated as an individual by their FS providers also increases as they grow older, meaning that individual treatment will help providers to retain consumers over the course of their lifetimes.
A high proportion of consumers state that they take responsibility for their own financial future. This will be affected in part by the desire to move away from FS provider support after the global financial downturn during which providers were portrayed as acting irresponsibly with consumers' money.
Globally there is a demand for premium banking services but providers will have to ensure the nature of premium services on offer fit the expectations of the consumer. A flexible, customizable offering would be most attractive to the consumer.

Your key questions answered

* Why is it so important for consumers to feel that they are being treated as an individual?
* What additional services would consumers like to receive from their FS providers, and what are they prepared to pay for these?
* Does the idea of account aggregation appeal to consumers?
* How effective at managing their finances are consumers who like to take responsibility for their financial future?
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Methodology 1
Executive Summary 2
The FS landscape has changed post-downturn 2
A holistic view of consumers must be adopted 2
Tracking consumer trends is fundamental to long-term success 2
The Megatrends have different levels of importance across the globe 3
The desire for Individualism is driven by consumers wanting their own needs met 3
The Individualism Megatrend is about self-reliance and self-expression 3
Consumers want to be treated as individuals 4
Consumers believe they shoulder responsibility for their financial future 4
Providers must offer consumers more control over additional services 4
FS providers should allow consumers to customize products 4
Consumers would like the ability to manage all of their financial products in one place 4
Providers must make consumers feel that they are treated as an individual 5
Introduction: The Importance of Trend Tracking to Financial Services 13
The post-recessionary FS market presents new challenges for the industry 13
The post-recessionary FS market presents new challenges to the industry 13
A microscope has been placed over the activities of the FS community 13
Competition is fierce within the industry 13
Consumer empowerment means that providers must work harder then ever to attract and retain customers 13
Competing on price alone does not necessarily result in profitability 14
Datamonitor is committed to creating a holistic view of 'the consumer' 14
Tracking consumer Megatrends is fundamental to long-term success 16
Megatrends can be classified in two ways, according to desirable product/service benefits or societal complexities 17
Megatrends can be broken down into trends and sub-trends to provide structure and clarity at a time of ‘information overload’ 18
Adopting a broader, global perspective to trend tracking facilitates better decision-making by overcoming myopia 19
Trends have greater long-term implications than fads 19
For every trend there is a ‘counter-trend’, while ‘trend-crossover’ is also an important phenomenon 20
Trends are aligned with pre-existing but evolving human values, attitudes, needs, and behaviors 20
The Megatrends have different levels of importance for consumers across the globe 21
Individualism is one of the strongest Megatrends globally 21
The desire for Individualism is driven by consumers wanting their own needs met 22
Individualism will continue to be an influential Megatrend as consumers continue to be self-reliant 23
The Future Decoded 24
The Individualism Megatrend is about self-reliance and self-expression 24
Individualism is comprised of three key trends 24
Individualism is driven by changes in society 26
Individualism is in greatest demand among middle aged consumers 27
Insight: consumers want to be treated as individuals 28
Individual treatment will aid retention of consumers 29
Insight: consumers believe they shoulder the responsibility for their financial future 30
Consumers may believe that they take responsibility for their financial future, but not actually know how to do so 30
Consumers in the oldest age group are most likely to think they take responsibility for their own financial future 33
Insight: providers must offer consumers more control over additional services 34
Fees for basic banking need to be low if consumers are to consider them fair 35
There is consumer demand for premium banking services 36
Insight: FS providers should allow consumers to customize products 46
Customization options must be productive 47
Insight: consumers would like the ability to manage all of their financial products in one place 48
Security concerns may lessen the desire for account aggregation 49
Account aggregation appeals to consumers of all ages 51
Action Points 52
Providers must ensure that consumers feel they are being treated as an individual 52
Current account providers must allow consumers to tailor their own services 52
Allow consumers to customize their banking services 52
Be flexible with additional services 52
Offer premium banking services 53
Savings account providers can use personalization to increase deposits 54
Offer a range of savings accounts 54
Use personalization to help consumers save towards their goals 55
Cater for consumers who want their own account in a relationship 55
Credit card providers should allow consumers to choose their card package 56
Allow consumers to customize their card 56
Loyalty and reward points must be useful to the consumer 57
Mortgage providers must innovate to offer consumers more customization 57
Allow tailoring of mortgage products 57
Innovation is needed to allow more individualized mortgage products 58
Personal loan providers should tailor their products to help repayment 58
Help consumers to repay a loan by tailoring it to their individual needs 58
Providers should innovate by customizing loans to their specific function 59
General insurance providers must move away from commoditization 59
General insurance products should be customizable 59
Niche insurance products cater to individual needs 60
Life insurance providers should help consumers to tailor their cover 60
Life insurance products must be customizable to the individual 61
Use tools to ensure customers gain the right cover 61
Pension providers must help individuals to fulfill their retirement plans 61
Recognize individual differences in retirement 61
Flexibility in pensions will appeal to consumers 62
APPENDIX 63
Additional data 63
Definitions 69
The Datamonitor Financial Services Consumer Insight Megatrend Framework 69
Methodology 70
Income Bands 72
Basic banking fee bands 74
Further reading 75
Ask the analyst 75
Datamonitor consulting 75
Disclaimer 75


TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Consumer behavior and the innovations targeting it inevitably fit into a 'trend hierarchy' 3
Figure 2: Looking at consumers as a whole will help to address their needs 15
Figure 3: Datamonitor's Megatrends have a long-term and substantive impact on the marketing landscape and can be grouped into two categories 18
Figure 4: Individualism is in high demand globally 22
Figure 5: On a global scale, consumers show an average demand for Individualism 23
Figure 6: The Individualism Megatrend is comprised of three key trends 25
Figure 7: Societal changes encourage a desire for Individualism 26
Figure 8: The demand for Individualism peaks with consumers in the middle age band 27
Figure 9: Consumers across the globe want to be treated as an individual 29
Figure 10: The desire to be treated as an individual increases with age 30
Figure 11: The holding of long-term savings products is not significantly higher among consumers who take responsibility for their own financial future 31
Figure 12: A high proportion of global consumers believe that they take responsibility for their own financial future 32
Figure 13: Consumers in the oldest age group are most likely to believe that they take responsibility for their own financial future 33
Figure 14: Consumers in many economies want to have control over the additional services they receive from their FS providers 35
Figure 15: Consumers do not believe that high charges for basic banking are fair 36
Figure 16: Consumers in developing markets are more likely to pay for premium banking services 37
Figure 17: European consumers value a personal contact for enquiries 38
Figure 18: Consumers in the Netherlands are the least interested in insurance products as additional premium services 39
Figure 19: Japanese consumers rate the importance of premium banking services above the global average 40
Figure 20: South Korean consumers place little value on insurance products as additional services 41
Figure 21: Brazilian consumers are very interested in interest free overdrafts 42
Figure 22: Chinese consumers do not value insurance products as additional services 43
Figure 23: A personal contact for enquiries is an important service for consumers in the US and Canada 44
Figure 24: North American consumers value insurance products as additional services 45
Figure 25: Customization is important to the majority of global consumers 47
Figure 26: There is a strong global demand for account aggregation 49
Figure 27: Security concerns must be considered when measuring the demand for aggregation of financial products 50
Figure 28: BBVA Compass allows consumers to build their own current account with a range of premium features 53
Figure 29: HSBC offers consumers a range of premium benefits with its Premier account 54
Figure 30: SmartyPig helps consumers to save by letting them set individual goals with a range of options 55
Figure 31: The Flexi card from Garanti Bank lets the customer create their card package 57
Figure 32: Yorkshire Building Society's "You Choose" home insurance lets consumers select only the cover they need 60
Figure 33: Standard Life offers flexible pension products that give the consumer more control 62


TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: Its important to me that my FS provider treats me as an individual? 63
Table 2: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: Its important to me that my FS provider treats me as an individual? By age band 64
Table 3: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I would like to have more control over the additional services offered by my bank? 64
Table 4: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I would like to have more control over the additional services offered by my bank? By age band 65
Table 5: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I take responsibility for my own financial future? 65
Table 6: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I take responsibility for my own financial future? By age band 66
Table 7: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: My FS provider should allow me to customize the financial products I use? 66
Table 8: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: My FS provider should allow me to customize the financial products I use? By age band 67
Table 9: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I would like to be able to manage all my financial products in one place? 67
Table 10: To what extent do you agree with the following statements: I would like to be able to manage all my financial products in one place? By age band 68
Table 11: How concerned are you about being a victim of these crimes in the future: Online or telephone banking login details stolen? 68
Table 12: Income bands used in 2010 FSCI survey 72
Table 13: Banking fee bands used in FSCI survey 74


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