Research and Markets: 2012 Strategic Insights: Loyalty and Retention in Singapore Priority Banking

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/73x976/strategic) has announced the addition of the "Strategic Insights: Loyalty and Retention in Singapore Priority Banking" report to their offering.

“Strategic Insights: Loyalty and Retention in Singapore Priority Banking”

Over recent years a number of factors have combined to make customer loyalty increasingly difficult for Singaporean banks and financial institutions to attain. In particular, the internet has paved the way for customers to research and compare the growing array of financial products available to them, which has also led to an increasing portion of customers managing their wealth themselves. The elusive loyal, whole-of-wallet customer, who has all of their financial products with the one institution and is loyal enough to stay with that institution regardless of what others in the industry are doing, seems to be an outdated notion.

This report explores customer loyalty amongst priority banking customers in Singapore by identifying the characteristics of a potential switcher across different banking products to highlight focus areas to prevent or discourage switching using results from a survey conducted by RFi in May 2012 of a nationally representative sample of banking customers.

Highlights

The single most common reason why priority banking customers are considering leaving their priority banking program is due to the relationship manager. Whether it's because of their level of customer service or other factors such as their knowledge of customer specific circumstances, availability, responsiveness, and their level of turnover, the relationship manager is key to encouraging customer loyalty.

Priority banking customers are most likely to maintain their relationship with their current wealth management provider over the next 12 months. It is likely that the time and money already invested in a wealth management relationship is acting as a barrier against switching to another bank.

Time deposits and credit cards are more prone to switching customers. Credit cards in Singapore seldom attach annual fees, leaving the customer free to chase value amongst banks. Time deposits also rarely have any fees or costs associated to them, so the client is free to shop around for the best interest rates offered at each institution.

Although the choice of a mortgage is often determined on the basis of the best value interest rate, in a similar manner to which consumer choose time deposits based on interest rates, or credit cards based on the benefits and rewards, the difficulty and expense involved in refinancing a mortgage are likely to be acting as a barrier than prevents mortgage holders from switching, meaning mortgage holders may still consider chasing the best value mortgage, but are more likely to hold back from actually doing so.

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