'Fin services consumers most loyal'

Banks and other financial services consumers are the most loyal of all, revealed a survey by Aimia, a loyalty management company.

The survey suggests 50 per cent of financial services consumers are loyal to their company/brand, followed by mobile consumers (40 per cent) and then came the technology brands with only a 36 per cent loyal customer base.

The banking consumers also scored highest loyalty points when it came to loyalty schemes and credit card schemes.  Other sectors such as supermarket and groceries rated lower than the banking consumers in terms of having a loyalty membership cards.

Even when it came to effective communication, consumers gave financial services a thumbs up. According to the survey, 44 per cent respondents said credit cards sent out the most relevant communications, whereas 41 per cent of surveyors said bank communications were very effective.

The high loyalty within the financial sector was driven by good reputation of the institution. Apart from this, being rewarded for loyalty was the key reason that consumers continued their banking relationship when it came to credit cards. But when it came to airlines and supermarkets then the loyalty was driven on the basis of price. On the other hand, when it came to fuel retailers and hotels consumers remained loyal if the quality was good.

"In this era of big data and competitive commerce, companies that win will drive real engagement by using consumer insights to continuously build trust and relevance. The Indian customer will reward brands that are transparent, offer added value and build real relationships with them," said Vikas Choudhury, COO and CFO, Aimia India

He added the loyalty market in India is still at infancy. Going forward companies and brands will have to focus on multi-loyalty coalition programmes to drive the market. Respondents (70 per cent) also expressed interest in participating in such broad-based coalition loyalty programmes in which points and benefits are earned across multiple categories.

The survey conducted by Aimia assessed 2,500 respondents in India and 24,335 in 10 other international markets.