Recent news and presentations from leading banks show a widespread desire to grow the mass affluent segments. Some examples:
- At its recent Investor Day, Bank of America highlighted mass affluent as a key customer segment as it aims to achieve its objective of leveraging the franchise–driving closer relationships between different business units in order to grow share of customer wallet. Earlier this year, the bank launched Merrill Edge, a new integrated banking and investment platform, for mass affluent clients.
- Citi reorganized its U.S. credit card and retail banking units, with each unit creating segments dedicated to affluent customers. It also recently launched a range of premium cards (ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premium and ThankYou Prestige) for affluent cardholders.
- At a recent Citigroup Financial Services Conference, SunTrust highlighted mass affluent as a targeted growth area.
- This month, Capital One introduced the “Match My Miles Challenge” promotion to attract new customers to its high-end Venture Card.
- Chase radically simplified its credit card product portfolio, with cards now dedicated to specific customer segments, including the Freedom card, which is targeted at the mass affluent segment.
To reach and serve this segment, banks first need to conduct comprehensive research into the characteristics, financial needs and behaviors of mass affluents, as well as into the competitive environment. Insights from this research feed into: new products and services; advertising and branch merchandising; pricing decisions; level of online and offline service provision; as well as training and ongoing support for branch and call center personnel. It is also imperative that the bank’s organizational structure, processes and systems to support, rather than inhibit, targeting efforts.
Subscribe