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Retail Banking Overview: Partnerships for Profit - UK

Published by: Mintel International Group Ltd.

Published: Dec. 1, 2007 - 155 Pages


Table of Contents


Issues in the Market


Key Issues



Insights and Opportunities

Loyalty - discretionary discounts, rewards, etc…

Build some emotion

Creating a bond with the young

Building better selling capability through the online channel



Market in Brief

Unprecedented market conditions will fuel an uncertain domestic market, and a slowdown in consumer demand

Retail banks in the firing line of the OFT - signalling an end to highly lucrative income streams

Strategically, all the major bank brands are grappling with the same challenges

Differentiate….differentiate…differentiate

A third of adults account for well over half of all holdings

Retail banks’ current account base means they dominate personal finance markets

In a market where there is often little distinction between brands, innovation is key

Banks creating a multi-channel retail mix that drives customer value

Television and direct mail prop up banks’ advertising investment



Internal Market Environment

Key Points

Building customer relationships

Moving the income profile

Depolarisation presented a huge opportunity…

…but few have made the most of it

Charges and overdraft fees under the microscope

Finding alternatives

A prompt to account switching?

Future revenue growth



External Market Environment

Key points

Consumer spending habits

Figure 2: Total personal disposable income (PDI), consumer expenditure and savings, 2003-12

Caution comes to the fore

Few signs of consumer panic…

…but life is getting tougher for some

Credit crunch yet to be fully felt

Base rates and lending

Figure 3: BoE average annual base rate, 2004-12

Employment trends

Figure 4: UK workforce and employment, by gender, 2002-12

Consumer confidence

Figure 5: Year-on-year trend in monthly approvals for house purchase to individuals, September 2005-September 2007

Bigger market opportunities from population increase

Figure 6: Size of UK population, by age group, 1999-2011

Scope to adjust to the new retirement reality…

…as well as changing ethnic makeup of the country

Household formation delivers further opportunity

Figure 7: Total number of UK households and one-person households, 1991-2012

Changing household structure leads to changing product requirements

Online development

Finance sales grow online

Figure 8: Online product purchasing, by category, April 2005-July 2007



Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market

Strengths/opportunities

Growing numbers of people and households, evolving mix

Existing large customer franchises to cross-sell to

Inertial tie creates customer bonds

Migrating more customers to low-cost channels

Weaknesses/threats

Cooling UK economy

Under scrutiny from the OFT

Homogeneous brands, lack of differentiation

Cross-selling has not taken off



Who’s Innovating?

Key Points

Product innovation through segmentation

Age segmentation leads the way

High net worth and niche services

Packaged accounts remain a point of focus

Account aggregation yet to hit the mainstream

Contactless payments come of age

Mobile banking - the next big thing...

...or just another channel option?

Aggregator sites

Green banking hits the mainstream

Co-op still leads the way in green finance

Lessons from the US

The dangers of greenwash



Current Accounts and Overdrafts

Key Points

Current accounts - the key battleground

Steady growth in the number of accounts

Figure 9: Number of personal bank accounts held by individuals UK (Major British Banking Group only), 2000-06

Value of personal accounts reaches £500 billion

Figure 10: Value of personal bank accounts held by individuals (MBBG only), 2000-05

Overdrafts

Figure 11: Overdraft advances to individuals by residual maturity* (MBBG only), 2000-06



Savings Accounts

Key Points

UK banks account for almost 70% of individual deposits

Figure 12: Individual trusts’ private sector holdings of sterling assets, 2001-06

Savings bonds see a shift in the market

The Northern Rock debacle shakes up the market



Mortgages

Key Points

Mortgages - dealing with the fallout from the credit crunch

House prices in the balance

First-time buyers slip away from the market

Figure 13: Number of loans for house purchase, by type of mortgagor, 1999-2006

An end to fixed rates could impact mortgage business



Credit Cards

Key Points

Number of payment cards in issue flattens…

Figure 14: Number of payment cards in issue, by type, 2001-06

…and payment volumes reflect tough conditions

Figure 15: Volume of UK purchases, by card type, 2001-06

Value of credit card purchases in decline

Figure 16: Value of UK purchases, by card type, 2001-06

Big 5 leverage retail advantage

Credit problems spread to the card market

Charging cap hits margins



Personal Unsecured Loans

Key Points

Cross selling vital

Figure 17: Total gross unsecured consumer lending split by product category, 2000-07

Banks making more use of their customer relationships

A shift away from price?



General Insurance

Key Points

Market size - pressure on premiums limits growth

Figure 18: General insurance business for UK risks, by annual net written premiums, 2000-06

Fall in property transactions to hit property insurance?



The Competitive Landscape

Key Points

Current Accounts

Figure 19: Current account market share, August 2007

A relatively static market…

…but still huge competition

Regional banks limited to their local strongholds

Savings accounts

Traditional providers reign supreme

Figure 20: Estimated volume share of savings acount market, November 2007

Credit cards

Barclays and Lloyds TSB still lead the pack

Figure 22: Leading credit card providers, by volume market share, April 2007

Mortgages

Building societies slip away

Figure 22: Gross mortgage advances by mortgage provider, 2005-06

Mixed signals

Personal insurance

Bancassurance accounts for growing proportion of business

Figure 21: Distribution of personal lines general insurance business by proportion of gross written premiums, 2000-06

Banks using subsidiaries to sell insurance

Figure 22: Largest general insurers in the UK - total market, by GWP, 2005-06

Personal unsecured loans

Figure 23: Personal loan market share by company, August 2007



Companies and Products

Key Points

Figure 24: Selected current account parent and subsidiary brands (MBBG only), 2007

Top 6 company profiles

Lloyds TSB

Figure 25: Lloyds TSB company profile, 2002-05

RBS Group

Figure 26: RBS/NatWest company profile, 2002-05

Barclays

Figure 27: Barclays company profile, 2002-05

HSBC

Figure 28: HSBC company profile, 2002-05

HBOS

Figure 29: HBOS company profile, 2002-05

Abbey

Figure 30: Abbey company profile, 2002-05



Brand Communication and Promotion

Key Points

General insurance and credit products the key battleground…

Figure 31: Financial services adspend, by product type, 2003-07

…but signs of a credit cutback?

Concentrating on retail banking

Figure 32: Retail banking-related adspend, by advertiser, 2003-07

TV vies with direct mail

Figure 33: Advertising expenditure on financial services , by media type, 2006/07

Direct mail - the cross-selling advantage

More to be made of online advertising?



Channels to Market

Key Points

Joined-up banking in a multi-channel environment

Branches finding new favour

Branch numbers still falling - but not by much

Figure 34: Number of branches, by bank, 1999-2004

Scope for more rationalisation?

The scope for negative press

ATMs take up the slack

Figure 35: Number of cash dispensers and ATMs, by bank, 1999-2004

Wide variation in the ATM: branch ratio

The independents’ growing role

Extending the range of vended banking

Figure 37: Availability of additional ATM facilities, 2001-06

Remote banking via online and telephone

Figure 38: Comparative performance of telephone and online banking, 2001 and 2006.

Figure 39: Number of transactions by telephone, by transaction type, 2001-04

Building the online franchise

Will a high street player break rank?

Mobile telephony



Brand Elements

Figure 40: Retail banking brand map, October 2007

Barclays

Brand personality

Figure 41: Attitudes associated with Barclays, October 2007

Brand performance

Lloyds TSB

Brand personality

Figure 42: Attitudes associated with Lloyds TSB, October 2007

Brand performance

HSBC

Brand personality

Figure 43: Attitudes associated with HSBC, October 2007

Brand performance

NatWest

Brand personality

Figure 44: Attitudes associated with NatWest, October 2007

Brand performance

Halifax/HBOS

Brand personality

Figure 45: Attitudes associated with HBOS, October 2007

Brand performance

The Co-operative Bank

Brand perception

Figure 46: Attitudes associated with Co-operative bank, October 2007

Consideration highest for HBOS

Figure 47: Retail banking brand retention and consideration, October 2007



The Consumer - Product Ownership

Key Points

Financial holdings

Figure 48: Ownership of financial products by gender and age, August 2007

Potential for the unbanked?

Figure 49: Ownership of financial products by gender and age, expressed as indices, August 2007

Derived demand alongside discretionary spending

Big 5 maintain their stranglehold on the market

Figure 50: Current account market share, August 2007

Multiple holdings

Figure 52: Product ownership, by number of products held expressed as Index against the All-Average, August 2007

Profiling customers with multiple holdings

Figure 53: Multiple product ownership, by technology usage, August 2007

Which bank brands have the most favourable customer profile?

Figure 54: Product ownership, by number of products held expressed as Index against the All-Average, August 2007

Identifying the product opportunities

Figure 55: Cross holdings of (same brand) current account holders, August 2007

Figure 56: Opportunity scoring for financial holdings August 2007

Potential to increase share of home insurance market

Lloyds TSB tops the cross-selling league

Figure 57: Products held with current account provider, by current account provider, August 2007

Deepening the banking relationship

Figure 58: Agreement with statement ‘I would be happy to arrange more products (eg a mortgage, a personal loan, an ISA) through my main bank where I hold my current account’, August 2007

Younger people turn to their current account provider

Figure 59: Agreement with statements concerning current accounts by gender, age, socio-economic group, and gross annual household income, August 2007

Barclays and Lloyds TSB could struggle to convert leads

Figure 60: Agreement with statement ‘I would be happy to arrange more through my main bank where I hold my current account’, by current account provider, August 2007



The Consumer - Channel Usage

Key Points

The drift to remote banking

Online banking - no longer niche

Figure 61: Agreement with statement ‘I use online banking regularly’ by main current account providers, August 2007

High-value customers move online

Figure 62: Agreement with statements about the usage of retail banking facilities, by gender, age, socio-economic group and gross annual household income, August 2007

Figure 63: Agreement with statements about the usgae of retail banking facilities, by product ownerhip, August 2007

Branch banking - still vital

Figure 64: Agreement with the statement ‘ I visit my local branch regularly’, by main current account providers, August 2007

Older customers still rely on the branch

Figure 65: Agreement with statements about the usage of retail banking facilities, by gender, age, socio-economic group and gross annual household income, August 2007

Figure 66: Product ownership by agreement with the statement “I visit my local bank branch regularly”, August 2007

Telephone banking

Figure 67: Agreement with statements about the usgae of retail banking facilities, by gender, age, socio-economic group and gross annual household income, August 2007

Figure 68: Agreement with the statement ‘I use telephone banking regularly’, by main current account provider, August 2007



The Consumer - Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty


Key Points

Overall satisfaction

Figure 69: Agreement with statement ‘i am happy with the service provided by the bank where i hold my current account’, August 2007

High earners could vote with their wallets

Figure 70: Agreement with statements concerning current accounts by gender, age, socio-economic group, and gross annual household income, August 2007

NatWest winning the service war

Figure 71: Agreement with statement ‘I am happy with the service provided by the bank where I hold my current account’, by current account provider, August 2007

Switching banks

Figure 72: Agreement with statement ‘i may consider switching my main bank where i hold my current account over’, August 2007

Young and affluent the most mobile

Figure 73: Agreement with statements concerning current accounts by gender, age, socio-economic group, and gross annual household income, August 2007

NatWest customers going nowhere

Figure 74: Agreement with statement ‘i may consider switching my main bank where i hold my current account over’, by current account provider, August 2007

What is making unhappy customers?

Figure 75: Attitudes towards current account providers, August 2007

Target analysis: where is the likely customer attrition?

Penalty charges the key push factor

Figure 77: Attitudes about banks by cluster groups, expressed as indices, August 2007



Appendix

Abbreviations

Currencies

Financial holdings analysis

Figure 78: Number of financial holdings, by key demographic and economic factors, August 2007

Figure 79: Number of financial holdings, by key lifestyle indicators, August 2007

Analysis of same brand holdings

Figure 80: Cross holdings of (same brand) current account holders by gender, age, socio-economic group and marital status, August 2007

Figure 81: Cross holdings of (same brand) current account holders by lifestage, special group, working status and gross annual household income, August 2007

Figure 82: Cross holdings of (same brand) current account holders by TV region, ACORN group, newspaper readership and supermarket used, August 2007

Profiling the major UK retail banks

Figure 83: Main current account providers by gender, age, socio-economic group, and gross annual household income, August 2007

Figure 84: Main current account providers by marital status, lifetstage, working status, and household tenure, August 2007

Figure 85: Main current accont providers by technology users, newspaper readership, tv region, and supermarket usage, August 2007

Analysis of same brand holdings, by named retail bank

Figure 86: Products held with current account provider, by current account provider, August 2007

Abstract

Currently, the retail banking community is in damage control mode. Relatively benign market conditions, which greeted the start of 2007, have morphed into unprecedented turmoil in credit markets, and a set of domestic factors that signal a slowdown in the UK consumer economy. The banks are also under fire when it comes to overdraft charges and payment protection insurance sales - this, relatively soon after a cap was imposed on credit card charges. Nevertheless, recent results have been particularly strong, with write-downs being less than expected, and profitability still high.

Everyone in UK retail banking now subscribes to the mantra of cross-selling. US consultant, AT Kearney, has produced a study showing that cross-sales rates are 3.3 in France, 2.6 in Germany, 2.3 in the UK, and 2.1 in the US. With high returns, it is no surprise that creating higher value from existing customers is so pivotal to future trading strategies. This report examines the extent to which banks are succeeding in this respect.

This report offers a wide ranging review of UK banking, with a focus on customer relationships. It previews the internal and external market environments with which banks must contending, analyses the various markets that form the retail banking portfolio, and the banks’ performance in these. Exclusive consumer research commissioned for the report assesses customer product holdings, and the potential for more ‘same brand’ holdings, as well as attitudes towards bank switching and prevailing satisfaction levels. The Brand Elements data provides an up to date assessment on the respective bank brands, comparing and contrasting each.



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