Germany Retail Banking Consumer Profiles and Analysis

Germany Retail Banking Market Report Overview

The following personas have been created through a cluster analysis (Calinski-Harabasz criterion) of GlobalData’s 2021 Financial Services Consumer Survey in order to understand German survey respondents and their attitudes, preferences, and unmet needs from their main providers. These personas have been created using three core attributes: financial services provider preference, age, and marital status. This has led to the production of 12 distinct clusters, of which six personas have been extracted.

The Germany retail banking consumer profiles and analysis report looks at a range of German customer profiles, using cluster sampling to determine customer banking preferences and mindsets. Leading banking providers can then use this to build solid customer-to-bank relationships and ensure future loyalty and retention. While this report focuses on the retention and loyalty of banks’ existing customers, each profile indicates how banks can sell new products and acquire new customers within each profile, while considering the potential threats and competition they could face in the German market.

Germany Retail Banking Market-Consumer Profiles

The key consumer profiles explored in the retail banking market report of Germany are the health-conscious retiree, the one who has suffered financial hardship, the experience-over-loyalty couple, the first-time investor, and the traditional graduate.

The health-conscious retiree: The primary goals of the health-conscious retiree are having emergency savings funds and being comfortable spending money while also being able to build up security during retirement. The segment prefers online banking for frequent banking tasks but still places high importance on helpful and knowledgeable staff. Digitally, the segment places more importance on simplicity around understanding his finances as he prefers the self-serving approach rather than seeking support.

While the health-conscious retiree prefers online banking for the daily banking tasks, he still prefers banking with the branch which suggests that the segment likes human interaction for product information and seeking assistance when facing hardships.

The one who has suffered financial hardship: The primary goal of this persona is to have enough emergency savings funds. The segment would rather save for the future than live well now.  Inspite of his preference for online banking for frequent banking tasks, this segment still places high importance on helpful and knowledgeable staff.

The segment prefers traditional provider and is not very open to other providers.  As a heavy online user, the segment feels the provider could improve its ability to both resolve minor problems without needing to resort to other channels and help in better understanding of the segment’s finances digitally. The segment also wants to get a clearer picture of the financial situation when they bank online.

The experience-over-loyalty couple: The primary goals of the experience-over-loyalty couple are having emergency savings funds and security during retirement.The segment prefers alternative providers based on their ability to offer enhanced budgeting tools. They feel their provider’s areas of digital improvement are around providing a clearer understanding of finances and a greater range of digital products and features. They prioritize spending time to get the right product rather than quickly choosing. Overall, their key areas of frustration are around products (digital availability as well as their overall lower levels of satisfaction around competitive prices in their profile are dissatisfied).

The first-time investor: The primary goals of the first-time investor are having emergency savings funds and saving up for a purchase. The segment prefers alternative providers based on their better rates and security. They feel as though the areas of digital improvement for their current provider are around providing a clearer understanding of finances and their ability to resolve minor problems without using other channels (such a telephony/branch).  The segment prioritizes spending time to get the right product rather than choosing quickly.

The traditional graduate: The primary goals of the traditional graduate are having emergency savings funds and saving up for a purchase. The segment feels that the provider could offer a better digital user experience in two main areas: providing a clearer understanding of her finances and the ability to resolve minor problems without having to use other channels. In a similar trend to other profiles, they are open to IM for making a complaint to their primary provider. The segment values safety over convenience, and this is a key factor behind their preference for traditional providers. Some of them in the segment have held their account since they were a child, so a lack of mobile app use will be a notable reason for their strong views in favor of traditional banks.

Germany Retail Banking Market- Channel Preferences for Banking Activities

The key channel preferences in the retail banking market in Germany are in-branch, telephone, online, mobile, video chat, and instant message.

German Retail Banking Market, By Channel Preferences of the Health-Conscious Retiree

To know more about the channel preferences of the health-conscious retiree in the Germany retail banking market, download a free sample

Germany Retail Banking Market Report Overview

Segments Covered in the Report

Consumer Profiles

• The Health-Conscious Retiree
• The One Who Has Suffered Financial Hardship
• The Experience-Over-Loyalty Couple
• The First-Time Investor
• The Traditional Graduate

Scope

• Our 2021 Financial Services Consumer Survey identifies a mixture of traditional and alternative banking provider preferences across profiles, with German customers showing to be overall much more debt-averse than any other market.
• Financial reviews and wellbeing services are a key trend across profiles, as many customers would benefit from more interaction with their providers regarding this. Some have faced the hardships of COVID-19 and need better engagement from their providers here.
• Satisfaction levels overall are varied, with higher amounts of cross-selling correlating to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction depending on the cluster in question.

Reasons to Buy

• Identify key customer propositions using cluster sampling based on the main retail banking products: deposits, credit cards, personal loans, and home loans.
• Analyze consumer perceptions of digital banking and preferred financial service providers.
• Discover the banking features and attributes customers are most willing to pay for.
• Compare customer life events while looking at specific customer life goals, such as retirement security.