Indian financial services customers are changing! Forrester surveyed 3,000 online adults in India about their attitudes about, expectations of, and preferences for financial services and found that more than half of customers accessing the internet are constantly online. We found that most of the respondents are early adopters of new technology — consumers that Forrester calls “Progressive Pioneers.”

As digital leaders develop strategies to serve digital customers, they should understand their customers’ financial attitudes, their expectations of the firm, and the cost of not meeting those expectations. We found that:

  • Money management help is a recipe for success. Forrester found that most online adults in India like to impress people with their lifestyle; they are focused on and dedicated to their career, and technology is very important for them. Consuming financial services is not their end goal; rather, it’s a means to achieve their life goals. Indian online adults prefer keeping their money with a firm that helps them manage their money better so that they can achieve those life goals.
  • Mobile continues to rise as the preferred channel of interaction. Customers want to accomplish their financial tasks on a mobile device: 68% of Indian online adults use a smartphone for banking, and 33% of online adults who are life insurance customers prefer interacting with their provider on a smartphone.
  • Financial firms face a churn problem. Financial services firms in India are constantly improving their digital touchpoints. Yet Forrester found that at least half of Indian financial services customers are likely to switch provider! Interestingly, they’ll switch because of a better experience with someone else rather than a negative experience with their current provider. In fact, “a firm offering the ability to manage financial well-being better” came out as the top reason for customers to switch their provider. On top of that, more than half of banking and life insurance customers will positively consider switching to a digital-only provider in the next two years.
  • Traditional banks no longer have a monopoly on trust. Survey results show that Indian online adults trust payment firms, large technology companies, and fintechs over traditional banks and life insurance providers to provide online or mobile tools to help them manage money. And more than half of the respondents reported that they trust Amazon, Google, and Paytm to act in the best interest of their financial well-being.

For more details and deeper analysis, keep an eye out for my upcoming research on these topics, or set up an inquiry with me. In the meantime, download Forrester’s complimentary guide to understand the impact on your strategy, distribution channel strategy, and unique value proposition.