In Focus Consumer Credit
Customer insight in high-cost, short-term lending
A new generation of regulations and borrowers is continuing to challenge the consumer-lending sector to evolve
Caroline Walton Chief customer insight officer, Dollar UK
Caroline.Walton@dfguk.com
It seems only yesterday that our industry moved from the jurisdiction of one regulator, the Office of Fair Trading, to that of the Financial Conduct Authority, and yet it was a move which has been one of considerable change, not just in our product developments, but in our entire way of thinking. And it has been very positive.
Customer insight During that change, ‘customer insight’ was born in a new and remarkable way, being a significant part of all of our functions right across the business. Customer satisfaction is still key to all
businesses, but it is not – and never has been – the only driver in our quest to deliver good customer service. Now, we work to look at who we lend
to more rigorously. It is not just about a scorecard or an affordability test, but it is a need to learn exactly who our customer is, from their behaviours, their needs, and their attitudes to how best we can deliver our financial products in the most appropriate way that meets all of our customers’ demands and expectations.
Need for information As our entire industry continues to change and evolve, so too has our need for more information in order to be more efficient, and to market to only the most appropriate individuals, and to do so in a way that they might act upon. As a result, customer insight feeds into
our marketing teams, product development and strategic thinking. One thing we are sure of is that there is a demand for credit and it is likely to be with
January 2017
us for a very long time. But how have people’s attitude to credit, and obtaining it, changed? Through insight, we strive to understand this continual change in order to build our products and services for today, but also tomorrow. For instance, we see sets of customers
spanning both generation x and millennials, who have very different attitudes to credit. Generation x has seen more televison and less social media than the millennial generation. The latter have been raised on social media, watched far less television and are more technology-wise and immune to most traditional marketing and sales pitches. These are individuals who are more likely
to have a student loan bearing down on them and to be beginning their lives with levels of credit that earlier generations would not have dreamt of.
www.CCRMagazine.co.uk
It is not just about a scorecard or an affordability test, but it is a need to learn exactly who our customer is
Conclusion Those striving to survive in consumer credit today – traditional or not – will need to embrace this thinking. Advertising is more challenging than ever, product design more critical, and affordability more in-depth that ever before. The need to be efficient and to find the
customer that is right, the customer that needs our consumer loans and a customer that can feel they have chosen the right lender, will be key. CCR
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