Industry Spotlight: Financial Services

The number of new players in the financial services sector is limited – banks have built high barriers of entry against potential newcomers.

Insurance companies are interacting with their clients via digital channels more than ever, as they handle time-sensitive and increasingly complex matters via phone. Banks, on the other hand, are applying technology in a more situational way. Day-to-day activities are increasingly digital and even mobile, but mortgage negotiations and investment planning are still very much face-to-face activities. Banks have managed to maintain their strong market positions by responding to changing consumer behaviour – even directing the change at times.

Five key stats from the financial services industry:

Four out of every five Nordic consumers regularly completes daily banking activities, i.e., transferring money to other individuals domestically (84%), checking bank balances (84%) or making other banking transactions (81%) on their smartphones.
For big decisions like mortgages, face-to-face meetings are preferred (38%).
On average, more than half of the Nordic consumers acquire insurance online (58%) and almost two thirds make insurance claims online (64%).
Investment advice is most commonly sought through in-person meetings (31%) or on the phone (25%).
Top investment tools are browsers on computers (54%) and banks’ apps on smart phones (73%).