Understanding new customer personas and their attitudes towards banking
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Which of the following best describes how you feel about the bank you have your current with?
Take this simple questionnaire to discover how well prepared you really are, and what steps you may need to take to make sure your customers get the best collections experience.
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Why are we asking this?
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Customer demographics strongly affect both channel choice and response rates. Your ability to periodically collect the right data and feed it back into collections policy and customer cases can massively increase engagement rates.
You answered: Proactive outreach at least annually
Being proactive with channel preferences is a great way to make customers feel heard and respected. However, preferences can change regularly, so agents must be able to follow and update them and track case histories to monitor the customer’s situation.
You answered: At onboarding
Many organisations work with outdated channel and contact preferences, which will often have changed since onboarding. In addition to common address, email and phone number changes, the sheer embarrassment caused by debt may mean that your customers have new preferences, such as the wish to talk through problems in private or perhaps to self-serve online.
You answered: Confirmed at every conversation
Tracking every conversation is at the heart of human-centred collections. Agents should be able to record changing preferences as they happen, and to track case histories to record the customer’s personal situation as it evolves.
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They have caused me problems and made my financial situation worse
They wouldn't care if I moved to another bank
They are trying hard to improve their service
Their technology lags behind other banks
/8
They really know, understand and value me and my family
They do what they can to improve my financial wellbeing
1
How many financial products or services do you have with your current account bank?
Savings account
Cash ISA
Travel insurance
Mortgage
Investment account
Stocks & Shares ISA
Personal loan
Home insurance
2
Do you use online or mobile banking?
Yes, frequently
Yes, occasionally
I tried it but didn't like it
No, but I would consider it
No and I never will
3
Do you feel it is important for your bank to behave ethicallly or sustainably?
It's very important
It's quite important
It's not very important
It's neither important nor unimportant
It's not important at all
4
Do you have any responsible, ethical or ESG investments or pensions?
Yes
No, and won't consider it
5
Are you aware of any help or support your bank offers to vulnerable customers?
Yes, definitely
Yes, I think so
No, probably not
I'm not sure
No, definitely not
6
How would you most like your bank to reward you for being a loyal customer?
Better rates on savings
Cash rewards
Perks, gifts and tickets to events
Loyalty points (eg Avios)
Sneak previews of new products and services
7
What would most persuade you to switch to another bank?
Better interest rates
Better technology
More innovative or ethical financial products
More caring or personal service
8
Do you trust the following with your personal financial data? (tick all that apply)
Your bank
Credit card companies
Online shopping stores (eg Amazon)
Supermarkets
The government
Tech companies (eg Apple)
A personal financial adviser
9
The Switchers
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Your answers tell us that you are The Switchers
The Switchers, who believe that their bank has caused them problems, made their financial situation worse or who just wants to make money for themselves are the most likely to have multiple accounts indicating they are more prone to switching and searching for new providers in order to resolve their dissatisfaction. Although they are primarily motivated by financial benefits, either as a reward for loyalty or a reason for switching, they also want a more ethical bank and better service, which aligns with their feeling of being poorly treated rather than a broader societal concern.
Demographic profile
This group is more likely to be male, working full time and aged between 25 and 34 with young children. This persona is likely to have two bank or building society accounts (average 2.2) and banks with Barclays, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Metro Bank and The Co-operative Bank.
56% male
43% female
50% employment (full time)
20% employment (retired)
20% age (25-34)
59% children at home
37% those with two banks
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Readiness for
Net Zero
How to engage with The Switchers
Capitalising on their promotional make-up
Influenced by offers and incentives, engagement could be increased through programmes that ‘nudge’ next step behaviours with offers (for downloading apps for example) - or through random acts of kindness (e.g. on birthdays) to demonstrate value – and create talkability and advocacy.
Turnaround programmes
They are motivated by a warm and comfortable family home and a cleaner, lesspolluted environment. With busy lives, they might be receptive to the idea of having more oversight and control, for example, through their smart meter and by switching to digital billing.
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Retail Banking
Personas
Discover all 6 persona types and insights
The Disconnected
The Disconnected, who believe that their bank wouldn’t care if they moved to another bank are among the least likely to have 1-2 accounts. This lack of a sense of connection might indicate that they are simply opening new accounts without closing the old ones, so these figures represent dormant, rather than active accounts. Given that they are primarily motivated by interest rates and cash rewards and take little interest in anything their bank does, from sustainability initiatives to support for vulnerable customers and loyalty programmes, their relationship is entirely pragmatic.
Slightly over-indexing on being female, this segment is aged between 45 and 64, working full or part-time, and with older or adult children. On average they own 2.2 accounts and bank with Nationwide, Halifax, Santander and Lloyds.
48% male
51% female
46% employment (full time)
21% age (25-34)
36% children at home
32% those with two banks
How to engage with The Disconnected
Your answers tell us that you are The Disconnected
‘Reward’ bonuses and customer-only products
This older group is motivated by higher interest rates and rewards. Targeted bonus rates for savings products, offered to customers of all savings balances will resonate with this group and build trust.
Supporting the vulnerable
Given their age, this group has a higher propensity to be either vulnerable – or have parents at risk. The accurate definition of services supporting disabilities, illness and challenging life events is likely to inform and engage this audience relevantly. Implementing early identification of the vulnerability triggers of vulnerability will help provide better solutions and support for this group – and your entire your customer bases.
The Progressive
The Progressive, who believe that their bank or building society lags behind in its technology or copies ideas from others, tend to hold a wider range of financial products with their main provider, particularly their mortgage and investment account. This suggests they might be basing their view of their bank being slow to innovate on the digital experience of these products and they cite 'better technology' as a reason to switch, particularly to a digital brand. They are also the most likely to go in branch and telephone their bank, perhaps because they don’t rate the digital or mobile services on offer, particularly for important transactions.
Equally male and female in make-up, this group are aged under 34 and have young children. The group most likely to be working full time, they bank with Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Bank of Scotland.
49% male
50% female
61% employment (full time)
15% employment (retired)
28% age (25-34)
73% children at home
How to engage with The Progressive
Your answers tell us that you are The Progressive
Online tech tour
Given this segment has lost faith in their bank due to a belief they are digitally backward by comparison, animated ‘digital guided tours’ showcasing the functionality customers can access across channels would help build more positive perceptions – as well as reducing customer service calls to your IT Helpdesk.
Personalised in-branch prompts
The most likely persona to use branches, pre-loaded prompts triggered either by the customer passing identification at the counter, or by GPS when they enter the branch. Prompts, for example, can be used to offer customers more suitable products - or solutions that would reduce debt or interest rates.
The Personal
The Personal, who believe their bank is making good efforts to improve its service, both digitally and in terms of customer support, tend to have an everyday, servicebased relationship with their bank and its people and are more neutral on its broader social or societal purpose. They are the persona most aware of the move to paperless statements but are one of the least likely to know that their money can make a difference. They rely on the bank to be both customer-friendly with good digital experiences, but also to have people who go ‘above and beyond’.
Equally male and female, over a third are over 55 and the most likely Persona to be retired. Less than half work full time. They hold an average of two accounts each and bank with Nationwide, Barclays, Bank of Scotland and The Co-operative Bank.
50% male
49% female
47% employment (full time)
27% employment (retired)
How to engage with The Personal
33% those with two banks
Your answers tell us that you are The Personal
Services for customers in need of help
One of the older personas, research shows that few within this group are aware of their bank’s services for vulnerable people. A series of communications could be introduced as a strategic communications stream with a view to increase this segment’s engagement with these services, simultaneously chiming with the service ethic they hold dear. This activity could be mirrored in a programme of internal training and communications that increase the identification of vulnerable behaviours.
Deepening the ‘personal connection’
Given this persona values highly the personal and the one to one, loyalty will be engendered through communications and solutions that deepen this further. This could include increased personalisation, small-volume offers tailored to history or invitations to try services that propensity models would point to take up.
The Valued
The Valued persona holds the most financial products, which suggests that they have entrusted much of their lifestyle to their bank and can credibly say that they feel understood and valued. As the youngest persona group this suggest they are very active and engaged in their financial situation from an early age and see it as an important part of their life. They rate easy account opening and customer service as important criteria, indicating that they appreciate a seamless journey in return for choosing to take extra products with their bank and they will switch if they don’t feel cared-about.
The youngest of the six personas, this group is slightly more likely to be male than female. Most work full time and, as a group, they hold one of the lowest average number of bank or savings accounts (1.9) per person. They are most likely to bank with Barclays, HSBC, Bank of Scotland and Starling.
53% male
46% female
60% employment (full time)
17% employment (retired)
26% age (25-34)
How to engage with The Valued
66% children at home
Your answers tell us that you are The Valued
Given this persona values highly the personal and the one to one, loyalty will be engendered through communications and solutions that deepen this further. This could include increased personalisation, small- volume offers tailored to history or invitations to try services that propensity models would point to take up.
The Enriched
The Enriched, who believe that their bank actively helps to improve their financial wellbeing are the Persona group most likely to use challenger brands such as Starling and Revolut. To this end, they put a high value on personalised products and digital experiences and are the most likely to rely on banking apps. They hold strong views on sustainability and are among the most likely to be aware of sustainability targets and green products and projects, indicating that they are either seeking out information on these from their bank or are receptive to communications such as social posts, advertising campaigns and emails.
The second youngest persona of the six, this group is slightly more likely to be male. Over a third are under 34 and they hold an average of 2.1 accounts each. The younger members of the Persona bank with Starling, Metro Bank and Revolut, older ones bank with Lloyds and HSBC.
52% male
47% female
55% employment (full time)
25% employment (retired)
22% age (25-34)
63% children at home
How to engage with The Enriched
Your answers tell us that you are The Enriched
Customer panels
As a group engaged with their bank(s), products and comfortable technology as well as their eyes open to competitors, this group would work well in a customer panel where they could feed back on enhanced and new products. Doing so may also feed into their self-worth as a valued customer, especially when the activity is rewarded.
Improving customer wellbeing
Companies including Fidelity and Aegon are already investing heavily in improving the financial wellbeing of their client base, often using behavioural science combined with technology to help customers understand, overcome barriers and drive them to tools and content to help them understand debt, pensions, interest rates and more. Given this group is already open to this, customer experiences and communications flows that support this would further engage customers with their bank.