Marketing Financial Products
<< Previous Chapter
Chapter 13 : The Global Scenario
Marketing Financial Products in the United States
Bank Marketing in the US
Insurance Marketing in the US
Marketing of Pension Plans and Mutual Funds in the US
Marketing Financial Products in the United Kingdom
Bank Marketing in the UK
Insurance Marketing in the UK
Marketing of Mutual Funds in the UK
Marketing Financial Products in China
The Banking Sector in China
The Insurance Sector in China
Marketing of Mutual Funds in China
Chapter Summary
|
This chapter covers financial products marketing across
three different continents with specific focus on the US, the UK, and China. The
section on marketing of financial products in the US focuses on banking,
insurance, and credit cards. The banking system in the US has undergone a
transformation over the years. The universal banking concept has matured. Some
of the banks have done away with the terms ‘Bank’ and ‘Branch’ and expanded
their business into other financial services. Many banks in the US are making a
shift from a reliance on fund-based products to fee-based services. Pricing of
credit cards has also evolved over the years with changes in pricing policies
(based on risk) and computational methods. Ethnic groups in the US form a major
customer segment for insurance marketers. The marketers have tailored the
communication patterns to appeal to these groups and this approach has paid rich
dividends. The trend of worksite marketing has also shown tremendous growth,
especially for insurance products. Most financial products in the future will
continue to be marketed through this channel. Among the three broad categories
of pension plans, only about 20 percent of the workforce opts for individual
retirement accounts. Mutual fund marketers make extensive use of online
advertising. |
|
In the UK, the banking sector has adopted technologies (such as RFID) to
monitor/ understand customer behavior. This would alert staff to the
customer needs and also help devise methods to improve delivery of services.
In life insurance pricing, lifestyle-linked obesity risk has begun to play a
major role in premium determination. However, the preferred lives concept
has not been very successful due to operational difficulties. The IFAs
(Independent Financial Advisors) have gained prominence as a new channel of
distribution for a majority of financial products like life insurance,
pension, and mutual funds. The emergence of fund supermarkets is a recent
development in the UK. These are like grocery stores where a wide variety of
funds are available for the customers at one place. The fees levied are
lower compared to dealing directly with a fund house due to the large number
of mutual fund products that the fund house sells.
The Chinese financial services industry is a major target destination for
global financial players. The magnitude of foreign investments in the
Chinese banking sector is huge, especially in retail banking and vehicle
financing. The consumer credit market, which includes credit cards, loans,
and mortgages, is another attractive segment for global players. The mutual
funds sector is undergoing a major change with commercial banks being
allowed to deal with mutual funds.
|
|
Short Case Studies / Caselets