London, 5 December 2024
London, 5 December 2024
Consumers in the UK are the most likely in Europe to demand near-immediate decision-making on services and product applications by banks, insurers and lenders.
The new research from CRIF, Europe’s leading provider of consumer and credit information, finds one in seven Brits now expect financial providers to approve loan applications within minutes (14%) or an hour (16%), twice as likely as the rest of Europe (7% and 8% respectively).
This trend continues for other types of financial products, with nearly a third (30%) of UK consumers wanting savings account applications to be processed within minutes, and a quarter (26%) expecting decisions on insurance products to be processed in the same timeframe.
This is again higher than the rest of Europe, where less than one in five (17%) want this level of speed for a savings account and only one in eight (12%) would expect a decision on insurance within minutes.
As services across all aspects of people’s lives become increasingly instant, CRIF’s findings highlight how this has come to inform expectations on banks, insurers and other financial providers. More so than in other parts of Europe, UK consumers demand greater immediacy, convenience and digital-first customer services, all delivered with minimal delays.
As well as speed of decision-making, the way customers in the UK prefer to engage with financial providers is shifting faster than in other parts of Europe. CRIF’s research finds that Brits are now the least likely to prioritise human interactions in banking. While eight in ten (83%) customers in the rest of Europe prefer to speak with a real person when making major decisions around loans, mortgages and insurance, just two-thirds (67%) in the UK say they would prefer this type of interaction.
Sara Costantini, Regional Director for the UK & Ireland at CRIF said: “The demand for quick decisions on major products and services such as loans or credit is growing, and many consumers now expect to access these services within hours or even minutes. Banks, insurers and financial providers need to embrace innovation to offer a wider range of tailored products and services. On one side they must adopt robust methods to rapidly analyse and determine eligibility while requiring minimal customer input, particularly in markets like the UK which prefer digital financial services and are shifting away from in-person interactions. On the other side, there remains a segment of consumers who value and often require personal interaction, and providers must look to ensure staff can still offer informed, direct and top-tier support to customers should they need it.”
The new data is part of the latest report in CRIF’s 2024 Banking on Banks series, looking at the customer experience and how to make digital financial services more personal.
The first report explored credit and debt, examining the challenging economic backdrop that European and US consumers are facing, and which products and services are needed; the second considered the challenges and opportunities for financial institutions in data sharing and trust; and the third looked at ESG and shifting customer values ahead of COP29.
