[Skip to content]

.

Personal Banking

Our extensive retail banking experience encompasses all core products, services and distribution channels.

We apply intelligent research solutions which help clients understand the important issues and dynamics within this critical consumer banking sector.

It is often said that if you don't understand the consumer mindset you can't claim to understand the market.

Examples of projects of this type include: 

Consumer life-stage atlas 

 A periodic syndicated study using extensive qualitative research to identify financial needs and pre-occupations at each (detailed) life-stage, to guide financial marketing. These studies have employed group discussions, deep dive ZMET® interviews and extended consumer workshops to co-create more meaningful products to meet the needs of specific life-stage and income groups. 

Preparation for later life 

 3,000 telephone interviews and attitudinal segmentation for DWP and PADA to understand how consumers are preparing financially for later life, and how they feel about the future. This generated segments used by DWP to inform their communications and marketing activity (For more on 'Preparation for later life', please click here).

Project Mars

 A large quantitative study tracking consumer mindsets and spending intentions through the recession, detailing the enormous impact that attitudes have had on purchase intentions across different product categories.

Usage and attitude (U&A) studies 

 BDRC Continental has conducted countless U&A studies across a host of markets.  These are classic big picture studies combining market behaviour, attitudes, brand imagery and demographics to produce an overview of any given market, often with a segmentation element.

To find out more please contact Shiona Davies 020 7490 9124.

Cards and other methods of payment are the most tangible aspects of financial services. They are the tools of day-to-day money transmission and, being visible, their design and imagery are important.  Example projects cover both card issuers and providers, including:

Payment usage & attitude

Large, quantitative consumer studies of the nature and extent of usage of different methods of payment, their imagery and driving factors. 

Card acquirer satisfaction 

Ongoing tracking of service delivery among merchants using card acquiring services.

New card NPD 

We have conducted many studies to inform development of new credit, debit or retail store cards, and both solus and affinity cards.  Methods have included conjoint studies, concept tests and group discussions.

Market opportunity studies 

We conducted much of the industry body research around the launch of Chip & PIN in the UK and have more recently looked at awareness and use of contactless cards. We assisted Barclaycard with up-take measurement for the continental launch of their card, and conducted uptake research for one of the major retailers evaluating potential for a new, own-brand credit card.

Card design studies

Typically qualitative research using mood boards and / or card mock-ups to identify preferred designs.  

 

To find out more, please contact Ian Stevens 020 7400 1005.

The current account is the unglamorous but essential workhorse of financial services. It is the central day-to-day banking service and often the anchor for cross-selling other products. So acquiring, retaining and ‘farming’ current account customers is crucial to the success of major banks.  Example projects we have conducted in this space include:  

Current Account Achilles

 A periodic syndicated study that looks at current account customer acquisition and retention and key driving factors, based on a large quantitative sample.

Added value accounts

 Many studies (qualitative & quantitative) to inform product range design / refresh for fee based accounts offering extra services.

New current account design

 Trade-off studies to inform the optimal design of new mass market current accounts.

Niche current account design

 Qual / quant studies to aid the design of specialist accounts for niche markets, such as ex-pats, Polish immigrants and the 50+ market. 

To find out more please contact Ian Stevens, 020 7400 1005 or Tony Wornell, 020 7400 1003.

Compliance, value for money and the emotional aspects of ‘protection’ are key concerns in insurance and protection. The challenge for research is to make it as interesting for consumers as possible or – failing that – at least as painless as possible.  Example projects include:

Sales process investigations 

Surveys and mystery shopping studies of sales of PPI (Payment Protection Insurance), to ensure that it is being offered to customers appropriately .

Price monitoring - insurance

Using mystery shopping techniques, we run an ongoing study for a major insurer, costing a basket of motor and household insurance risks to benchmark the client’s competitiveness.

Customer satisfaction 

Assessment of satisfaction with the policy opening process, claims and query handling, and policy renewals. Some of these studies have cross-matched renewal rates with customer satisfaction measures, to evaluate whether expressed satisfaction matters (it does!) and to set benchmarks for monitoring. Studies include both commercial and personal lines insurance.

Understanding protection needs 

A more motivating area for consumers is to understand their emotional needs for insurance protection.  One such study involved extended consumer workshops, looking at feelings about protection and then moving on to co-create an ideal insurance policy that would address emotional as well as rational needs. 

GI segmentation 

A quantitative syndicated study to identify different need groups within the population, as a basis for targeted product development. 

NPD

Trade-off techniques have been used to develop new household insurance products as well as to segment the population into different needs-based clusters.

 

Pensions are now a hot topic, with an ageing population, the closure of final salary schemes and waves of forthcoming legislation.  BDRC Continental has been monitoring provision of pensions and other employee benefits via its Business Omnibus survey since October 2008.

Pension contributions are in decline…but for how long?

Pension contributions were down for the first time ever in 2008.  A survey of 2,500 private sector firms recorded a fall in the proportion of firms making some form of pension provision from 41% to 28% between 2007 and 2009.

New legislation requiring automatic enrolment of all full time employees into a qualifying pension scheme makes a significant increase in contributions over the next 5 years nearly inevitable.  The Government estimates that about seven million people are currently under-saving for retirement.

 

BDRC Continental works throughout the pensions industry, amongst consumers, pension schemes and providers. Recent research projects for the Pensions Regulator (tPR) include:

  • Review of new Pensions Guide to Employers

  • Record Keeping Guidelines

  • Later life savings segmentation

 

To read more about 'Saving for later life', please click here.

For more details contact Ian Stevens 020 7400 1005 or Mark Long 07966 454 958.