business man with hands up in a I don't know gesture

Even before the lockdown resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, consumers were hankering for more ways to gain access to their financial services providers and accounts via mobile apps, online tools, telephone and branch access.

So says a new survey from Hearts & Wallets, which also says that retirement planning is gaining in importance to consumers since just last year—with the percentage of those focusing on it rising from 2019's 35 percent an additional two percentage points in a single year.

To determine which firms are doing better than others, survey respondents were asked to rank their financial services providers on 27 key attributes for 5 key service dimensions and 3 pricing dimensions, and the results on pricing, at least, don't show user perception of value all that high for anyone—with consumers "more confused about pricing than in former years, with [o]nly 25 percent of customers hav[ing] a good understanding of how their providers earn money," according to the report.

It adds that in 31 percent of "primary and secondary firm relationships, the customer does not know how they pay for saving and investing services, up 3 percentage points in one year. Underscoring the struggle with pricing, there are no top performer firms in the perception of value dimensions this year."

Oh, and incidentally, just because consumers are looking for multiple channels of access doesn't mean that they're willing to forego in-person and telephone contact—a fact that was highlighted by the pandemic and market crash.

"Omnichannel access has been growing in importance, even before the spike in COVID-19-related calls," Laura Varas, CEO and founder of Hearts & Wallets, is quoted saying in the report. Varas added, "Mobile apps are an additional channel, rather than a substitute for phone or branch accessibility, and offering multiple ways to connect is even more important during this time of crisis when consumers seek reassurance."

Firms might want to reconsider before they start shutting down local branches, too; says the report, "Of the … 26 percent of households nationally who consider mobile apps very important, … 63 percent also place high importance on local branches. Apps do not displace human interactions, as … 91 percent of consumers who place high importance on mobile apps also say being 'easily reachable by telephone' is very important."

And advisors, take note: Women have higher expectations than men across all 27 attributes, including an 11-percentage point difference for "easily reachable by telephone," cited by 55 percent of women compared with 47 percent of men.

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Instant Insights /

Is it bad that clients don't understand how financial services providers earn money?

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