Affluent banking: Propositions, products and people

Cette étude est disponible uniquement en anglais. It has been fascinating to see how the importance of affluent banking has evolved as banks and their customers across Europe have looked at where the most profitable parts of the personal retail banking market might lie in future years. The definition of ‘affluent’ or what many banks calling ‘premier’ banking varies between regions. However, most members of our Council believe that between 10-20% of the core personal retail banking customer base offers an opportunity to provide added-value affluent banking services that can generate greater profitability potential than the mass market. Despite the recession, this segment seems to be growing in a number of geographies. Most of the discussions at our Council meetings in the last year have been about the best delivery and operational model to achieve this profitability, as well as the ideal mix of products and services. Our discussions suggest that most banks have a separate proposition for their affluent customer base but that there are many variations on the types of products and services offered. Whilst most banks provide enhanced versions of their mass-market products for affluent customers, there also seems to be a trend towards providing more added-value non-financial service benefits. In many cases, banks offer a package of bundled products and services for a specific monthly fee. A number of our member banks feel that affluent customers offer a more stable regular fee income opportunity and a greater cross-selling potential than the conventional mass market customers. The key issues that we have discussed and focused on in our meetings include: - Market segmentation - Distribution - Relationship management - Advice - Customer acquisition and retention - Organisation structure and branding.