Braze Research Reveals Disconnect Between Financial Services Brands and Consumers

Report finds that only 39% of surveyed consumers believe communications from their financial services company are relevant to their needs

Braze, the comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands they love, revealed findings from its newest industry data report, “Banking on the Customer Journey: 2022 Financial Services Insights.” The report provides guidance for financial services brands, specifically those that provide banking, budgeting, and wealth management services, to better understand and meet shifting customer needs.

The findings revealed a major perception gap between consumer expectations and brand performance. In collaboration with CACI, a leading business consultancy with extensive experience in banking and financial services, the report also provides actionable insights and a pathway for brands to close this disconnect. The data combines insights from campaigns powered by the Braze Customer Engagement Platform, with research from two global surveys – of 5,000 consumers and 1,500 marketing executives working in the financial services industry, each conducted by Wakefield Research.

“In recent years we have seen rapid shifts in technology and consumer behavior fuel the evolution of all industries, particularly heavily regulated ones like financial services,” said Myles Kleeger, President and Chief Customer Officer at Braze. “There’s often a gap as brand understanding catches up with new consumer behavior. In this new report we examine perspectives from both sides – customer and marketer – which found that right now in financial services, that separation is sizable.”

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Notable findings include:

Brands Are Overconfident in Their Communications
Only 39% of consumers surveyed believe communications from their financial service company are relevant to their needs, and only 41% of customers say they are satisfied with their messaging. Compare this to 82% of financial services brands that believe customers are satisfied with their messaging, revealing financial services leaders are overly confident about the customer experience they are providing.

Relevant Messaging Leads to Higher Customer Satisfaction
Our data found a strong correlation between sending valuable messages with overall consumer satisfaction. A whopping 87% of surveyed consumers who feel they receive relevant communications say they are satisfied with their financial services brand, whereas only 50% who receive irrelevant communications are satisfied with their financial services brand.

Personalization vs. Privacy Paradox
Customers want personalized, relevant experiences – 62% of consumers surveyed are willing to share more personal information to get more relevant communications – but financial service brands must balance that with the stringent standards around data privacy. Much of that starts with the right approach to data collection. With the impending cookieless world, the first step is to move away from third-party data and focus more on zero- and first-party data driven strategies. However, our findings show that only 59% of surveyed financial services brands are leveraging zero-party data, and 61% are collecting first-party data to create a more personalized experience for customers.

Keep it Simple, Keep it Short
When it comes to customer communications, financial services brands should stop sending irrelevant messages, and focus on sending messages that add value to a customer’s experience. We asked consumers to rank the type of messages that they actually want to receive. Over half (56%) of consumers surveyed ranked account updates (low balance, deposit confirmations, etc.) as the most preferred. Only 14% of consumers selected promotional offers, 13% selected information on new products and features, 9% on educational content, and a paltry 7% wanted to hear about corporate updates.

“The financial services industry has seen major changes over the last decade when it comes to customer expectations,” said David Sealey, Director of Strategy and Growth at CACI. “This report answers important questions for leaders, marketers, and experienced professionals in the financial services sector. Using real customer and marketer research data, the Braze report shows where the experience gaps are and how to fix them.”

The study also breaks down findings across APAC, EMEA, and the US – taking a deeper look at the nuances of consumers and marketers within each region.

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