Are You Being Served?

As the popularity of online banking grows at an ever increasing pace, retail banks and other financial institutions with costly branch networks have only a five year window of opportunity in which to turn the branches into profit centres. Chris Gentle and Sebastian Cohen look at how this can be done.
Financial institutions that own retail banks are facing a major challenge. How do they re-invigorate their franchises? As the retail market matures, many banks are struggling to grow their customer base and their revenues.
With intensifying competition driving down prices and increased switching between providers, customers in the United Kingdom are more price-sensitive and less loyal than ever before. Retail financial institutions are struggling to connect with their customers. It is not enough simply to acquire customers with an attractive new rate. Banks must now work hard to retain customers, generate more revenues from them and increase the number of financial products sold to each individual. Cross-selling additional products is also significantly more challenging when customer loyalty is lacking.
To address these issues Deloitte has undertaken a major research project based on a consumer survey of 1,000 UK adults, in-depth interviews with key influencers in the retail banking market, and a series of in-house focus groups. This builds on previous research – Bring Back the Branch, Retail is in the Detail and Loyalty Quest.
New thinking is required if banks are successfully to reinvigorate their retail proposition. Our conclusions suggest financial institutions should seek to change the basis of competition by creating a value-added proposition that attracts and retains customers by leading on service rather than price. To reconnect with customers, the fresh proposition should be based on the principles of convenience, value and service. In the battle for customers – and their hearts and minds – the branch will be critical.
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