Australia - Trust is major issue in financial services

Trust in the financial services industry is being highlighted in a report released in Australia this week.

According to a report, Restoring Trust in Financial Services in the Digital Era, which was commissioned by Salesforce, 34% of customers believe the industry can be trusted. The new report recommends firms need to demonstrate their commitment to putting customers’ interests first, with more than 50% of customers believing the digital experience with their financial providers still needed improvement. 

Privacy and data is becoming a major concern, an issue across the globe at the moment after recent data scandals.

Customers said the drivers of trust were systems to protect data and privacy, ethics and social responsibility and the belief the firm is putting customers’ interests first. Twenty-nine percent of customers said they were less willing to share personal information and data than six months ago. However, 58% of customers said they would share personal and financial data with their own financial providers to access higher quality products and services.

The report also said financial services firms were lagging behind on customer expectations, with respondents believing their providers were failing in providing personalised products and services and proactive advice and alerts. Twenty percent believed the industry failed to meet most or only meets some expectations.

Customers also said they would consider alternative service providers. Thirty-eight percent would consider personal financial management FinTechs, 35% would consider superannuation FinTechs and 34% would consider banking FinTechs.

Deloitte digital partner Brad Milliken said recently that it wasn’t sufficient for financial services firms to simply talk about trust, they must actively diagnose, improve and manage for better outcomes.

Research has increasingly shown that an organisation’s trustworthiness is impacted by three pillars: ethical intent, capabilities and an alignment to customer interests. And that having ethical intent is not sufficient if the organisation can’t deliver on the promises it makes.

The report was based on a survey of 1,005 customers in Australia and New Zealand. The full report can be accessed here.