Overview:

Introduction

Greater value is being placed on wellbeing, balance and moderation. Using Financial Services products to manage stress and financial health will therefore be in vogue in this post recessionary climate. FS providers need to remind consumers that financial services can actually play a role reducing, rather than adding to, consumer stress.

Features and benefits

* Enhance product design by better understanding consumer attitudes towards managing their finances
* Improve engagement and wallet share, through learning how to empower consumers to take more responsibility for their own finances.
* Improve customer acquisition and retention through clear, actionable strategies.
* Sculpt regional strategies by utilizing country level analysis and insight

Highlights

Consumers are placing greater value on wellbeing, balance, moderation, and the use of FS products to manage stress and financial health. FS providers need to remind consumers that financial services can actually play a positive role in reducing, rather than adding to, consumer stress.
Consumers in financial difficulties may avoid the very tools and services that could aid them. FS providers must therefore focus on instilling confidence into troubled consumers, and empower them to seek out the guidance needed to help them reverse their misfortunes.
Consumers and FS providers must work hand in hand to build best practice. Financial advice must form an important part of consumers' decision making if the errors made before the financial crisis are to be avoided in the future.

Your key questions answered

* What role must FS providers play in reducing financial stress?
* How has the recession changed consumers’ attitudes to their financial management?
* Are consumers taking responsibility for their own financial problems or do they blame providers?
* What do consumers look for in financial management tools?

Executive Summary
The financial services landscape has changed post-downturn
A holistic view of consumers must be adopted
Tracking consumer trends is fundamental to long-term success
The Wellbeing Megatrend is about FS providers improving consumer peace of mind
The Wellbeing Megatrend is comprised of three key trends
Trend: stress reduction must be an essential function of financial services
Trend: consumers seek moderation and balance in their FS products
Trend: expert consultation will bolster customer choice in this uncertain time
Actionable Strategies
OVERVIEW
Catalyst
Summary
Methodology
INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF TREND TRACKING TO FINANCIAL SERVICES
The post-recessionary FS market presents new challenges for the industry
A microscope has been placed over the activities of the financial services community
Competition is fierce from within the industry and from new entrants
Consumer empowerment means providers must work harder then ever to attract and retain customers
Competing on price alone does not build profitability
Datamonitor is committed to creating a holistic view of the consumer
Tracking consumer Megatrends is fundamental to long-term success
Megatrends can be classified in two ways, according to desirable product/service benefits or societal complexities
Megatrends can be broken down into trends and sub-trends, to provide structure and clarity at a time of information overload
Adopting a broader, global perspective to trend tracking facilitates better decision-making by overcoming myopia
Trends have greater longer-term implications than fads
For every trend there is a counter-trend, while trend-crossover is also an important phenomenon
Trends are aligned with pre-existing but evolving human values, attitudes, needs, and behaviors
The Megatrends have different levels of importance for consumers across the globe
In the post-recessionary climate, the influence of Wellbeing is particularly strong, but financial empowerment must continue to grow in the future
BRICS consumers are looking to take control and nurture newfound wealth
Singapore and Japan are very different in terms of consumers' attitudes towards Wellbeing
North American consumers are more receptive to messages of Wellbeing than Europeans
THE FUTURE DECODED
The Wellbeing Megatrend is about peace of mind
Wellbeing is comprised of three key trends
Trend: stress reduction must be an essential function of financial services
Insight: concerns over money rose during the financial crisis and global recession
More than half of consumers in Italy and Japan saw their daily stress levels increase during the financial crisis
Consumers pay attention to their stress levels and will be motivated to improve their peace of mind
Insight: consumers are looking to FS providers for solutions geared to ease their anxieties
The emerging markets and Spanish consumers are the most eager for FS providers to offer solutions
Japanese, Dutch, and UK consumers are more cynical of the role of FS providers
Insight: less than 40% of consumers are currently using FS products for stress reduction
Indian and Chinese consumers are the most convinced that FS providers can play a role in offering them peace of mind
Few European consumers are using FS products for stress reduction
Insight: women are particularly at risk of stress-related illness, and are currently being underserved by the FS industry
Women are being underserved by FS providers in many developing economies
Women have identified the financial services industry as the one they are most dissatisfied with on both a service and a product level
Insight: simplicity and effortless functionality must form the basis of financial tools in the future
Consumers want to be informed, not overwhelmed
Information must be presented in a simple yet refreshing manner
Insight: FS providers must allow consumers to manage their finances at their convenience if they are to aid in stress reduction
A quarter of consumers do not have time to manage their finances
Mobile money management will reduce delay and the anxiety it brings
Trend: consumers seek moderation and balance in their FS products
Insight: consumers are looking to simplify their lifestyles as a cure for recessionary anxieties
Consumers in the emerging markets are looking for a less complicated lifestyle
Insight: recessionary pressures can instill fiscal responsibility on some while overwhelming others
A quarter of global consumers are not taking responsibility for their financial futures
Insight: moderation and responsible debt management are important forces in the post-recessionary climate
Trend: expert consultation will bolster customer choice in these uncertain times
Insight: the financial advice industry is stunted by low trust
North American advisors are held in a higher regard than the global average
European consumers distrust the commission-based system, and are instead heading to their banks and online
Insight: less than half of consumers are given confidence from taking professional financial advice
Consumers' response after receiving financial advice changes from region to region
Digital resources are trusted by consumers more than professional advisors, but the channel remains underused
Insight: banks must leverage their advantages in trust and convenience
[Missing title]
ACTION POINTS
Action point: card providers must show consumers a clear path to recovery
US credit card providers are already catering to the recovering consumer
Capital One's Progress Card encourages consumers to take control of their finances
Providers need to remind consumers that debt can be an effective means of regaining financial stability
Action point: life and protection providers must advance into the welfare space vacated by the retreating public sector
Action point: FS providers must meet consumer demands for simple life solutions
Action point: mobile money management and the instancy of information will dispel some of the negative consumer sentiment
Action point: banks must incorporate tools that aid budgeting into their online banking platforms.
Banks must ensure that budgetary tools are geared at an appropriate level of financial education
Action point: banks must encourage regular financial health checkups as part of delivering a holistic service
APPENDIX
Definitions
The Datamonitor Financial Services Consumer Insight Megatrend Framework
Methodology
Income bands
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
Disclaimer