While common sense dictates that consumers choose to stay with a financial services company because they have trust in that company, the reality is that trust is far from the leading influence on customer loyalty. Receiving the best rates and lowest fees is actually the leading driver for consumers remaining loyal to a financial service company, per a Yes Marketing survey [download page] of 1,000 consumers who have used a financial services company in the past year.
A leading 43% share of survey respondents say that rates and fees represent the most important factor that keeps them loyal to their financial service company. By comparison, fewer than half as many (19% share) say that the variety of services available is their top loyalty driver.
An even smaller share (9%) of consumers say that the proximity of physical branches or amenities keeps them loyal. The same percentage (9%) of respondents ranked trustworthiness of the company as their top reason for not changing financial services companies.
With seemingly persistent data breaches within the financial services industry (the most recent being just one month ago), the expectation of trust is high. Nonetheless, only about 1 in 12 respondents report that their top loyalty driver is their trust in the company to protect their data. However, the report does note almost one-third (31%) of respondents listed data protection as being among their top three loyalty drivers.
When choosing a new financial services provider, the motivating factors for respondents appear very similar to those that keep them with a provider. The influencing factors include how rates and fees compared to other financial service providers (42% share), the variety of services (22% share), trust in the company to protect data (13% share) and the proximity to branches or amenities (10% share).
So, how are consumers hearing about these companies? More than two-fifths (43% share) used a financial services company they had never heard of before after a recommendation from friends or family.
The full report can be downloaded here.
About the Data: Findings are based on a survey of 1,000 consumers ages 18 years old and older who have used a financial services company in the past year.
