Our H1 2016 detailed insight into the state of consumer credit based on 80+ brands and 2500+ consumer reviews.

1. Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
Summary
View

3. Contents
3
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
1
IntroducAon
4
2
The
State
of
Play:
5
Key
Stats
5
3
Customer
Advocacy
6
4
Customer
Profiles
8
5
Channel
Preferences
9
6
Customer
Experiences
10
7
Company
Preferences
12
8
Summary
13
9
Your
Business
Insight
14
Our
consumer
credit
insight
is
essenEal
reading
for
every
consumer
credit
business,
industry
body
and
regulator
in
2016
Launched
in
October
2014,
Smart
Money
People
is
the
UK’s
leading
customer
review
and
insight
community
focused
on
financial
services
This
dashboard
provides
fresh
and
compelling
insight
into
the
consumer
credit
market
in
H1
2016,
based
on
2,511
UK
consumer
experiences
10
About
Smart
Money
People
15
We
are
the
place
for
customers
to
review
their
financial
services
providers
and
for
firms
to
obtain
performance
and
regulatory
insight

4. This
dashboard,
Consumer
Credit:
The
State
of
Play,
delivers
an
overview
of
the
state
of
the
consumer
credit
industry
in
H1
2016.
This
dashboard
will
help
to
answer
a
number
of
key
quesAons,
including:
• How
do
consumer
credit
customers
feel
about
their
providers?
Are
UK
consumers
being
ripped-­‐off?
• Which
providers
generate
the
strongest
passion
from
their
customers
and
why?
• How
do
consumers
choose
the
consumer
credit
providers
they
do
business
with?
• How
important
are
mobile
apps?
With
a
broad
spectrum
of
providers
engaged
in
consumer
credit,
this
dashboard
focuses
on
providers
of
Short
Term
Credit
(e.g.
Wonga,
Mr
Lender),
Personal
Loans
(e.g.
Barclays,
Ikano
Bank),
Credit
Cards
(e.g.
Halifax,
Tesco
Bank),
P2P
Loans
(e.g.
Zopa,
RateSeAer),
Credit
Brokers
(e.g.
MoneySupermarket,
Cash
Lady)
as
well
as
Credit
Reports
(e.g.
Experian,
ClearScore).
The
data
presented
is
from
the
Smart
Money
People
dataset
of
customer
experiences
collected
in
H1
2016.
Smart
Money
People
has
provided
hybrid
insight
to
the
financial
services
industry
since
2014.
1. Introduction
4
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
Upgrade
your
summary
dashboard
today.
A
tailored
dashboard
from
Smart
Money
People
will
provide
you
with
acEonable
insight
about
your
customers,
compeEtors
and
the
wider
market.
Our
insight
comes
from
our
proprietary
panel,
and
is
designed
to
deliver
a
compeEEve
edge.
Access
your
customer
insight
today,
see
page
14.

5. 2. The State of Play: 5 Key Stats
Overall
RaEng
Value
for
Money
Overall
weighted
average
across
all
business
types
What
percentage
of
consumers
felt
fairly
treated?
Lent
too
much
Do
consumers
feel
that
they
have
been
offered
an
unmanageable
amount
of
debt?
How
consumers
rated
the
value
for
money
offered
by
consumer
credit
products
Fairly
Treated
Understood
Product
Details
What
percentage
of
consumers
felt
that
they
understood
the
product
details?
Do
UK
consumers
feel
like
they’re
being
ripped-­‐off?
Key:
Business
Type
Credit
Check
Provider
Short
Term
Credit
Provider
Personal
Loan
Provider
Credit
Card
Provider
P2P
Loan
Provider
Credit
Broker
Credit
Report
Provider
87%
80%
88%
91%
9%
Short
Term
Credit
Credit
Reports
L:
H:
Personal
Loans
Credit
Reports
L:
H:
Credit
Reports
Credit
Brokers
L:
H:
Note:
A
weighted
average
has
been
calculated
to
ensure
equal
representaAon
across
all
the
business
types
listed
Despite
leading
the
way
in
the
fields
of
value
for
money
and
treated
fairly,
24%
told
us
that
they
did
not
understand
how
a
credit
report
worked
5
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
How
does
the
consumer
percepAon
of
value
for
money
compare
with
other
retail
financial
products
in
H1
2016?
Mortgages:
82%
Current
Accounts:
84%
Motor
Insurance:
63%

6. 3. Customer Advocacy: Net Promoter Score (NPS)
0
+100
-­‐100
Note:
Each
circle
represents
a
UK
focused
consumer
credit
business.
This
dashboard
includes
data
on
86
providers,
with
the
41
most
reviewed
highlighted
above
Which
parts
of
the
market
are
delivering
for
customers,
and
which
aren’t
doing
the
job
Although
demonstraAng
significant
variance,
with
NPSs
ranging
from
0
to
+92,
no
credit
card
providers
recorded
a
negaAve
NPS
Credit
Check
Provider
Short
Term
Credit
Provider
Personal
Loan
Provider
Credit
Card
Provider
P2P
Loan
Provider
Credit
Broker
Credit
Report
Provider
Key:
Business
Type
Short
term
credit
providers
delivered
the
highest
NPS
variance.
Customers
rave
about
great
service
and
quick
access
to
cash,
but
rant
about
firms
that
are
perceived
as
inflexible
and
fail
to
deliver
a
human/caring
service
6
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016

7. 3. Customer Advocacy: Passion Index
1
Brand
Which
brands
and
business
types
deliver
the
strongest
emoEonal
response?
Ikano
Bank’s
posiAon
in
our
Passion
Index
can
be
adributed
to
an
influx
of
customer
demand
following
the
launch
of
their
3.2%
representaAve
APR
personal
loan.
A
slow
applicaAon
process
and
lack
of
communicaAon
saw
Ikano
Bank
make
our
must
do
beder
group
Credit
card
providers
that
delivered
clear
customer
perks
and
built
on
exisEng
brand
loyalty
topped
our
Passion
Index.
Despite
many
short
term
credit
providers
having
strong
posiAve
NPS
scores
overall,
only
short
term
credit
providers
that
provoked
a
negaAve
emoAon
had
customers
moAvated
enough
to
appear
in
our
Passion
index
2
3
4
5
Credit
Check
Provider
Short
Term
Credit
Provider
Personal
Loan
Provider
Credit
Card
Provider
P2P
Loan
Provider
Credit
Broker
Credit
Report
Provider
Key:
Business
Type
Product
Type
7
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
6
7
8
9
“Good
service
with
the
bonus
of
gehng
points
to
spend!
I
find
the
service
at
M&S
excellent
if
I
have
any
problems.
Also,
they
are
great
at
monitoring
spending
paderns
to
detect
fraud.
K.
Moyse,
London
Household
Comfort
Ones
To
Watch
Must
Do
Beaer
About
the
Consumer
Credit
Passion
Index:
To
create
our
Passion
Index,
we
analysed
the
%
of
consumers
who
landed
on
a
product
review
page
but
subsequently
abandoned
their
review.
We’ve
used
this
as
a
proxy
for
the
strength
of
emoAon
towards
a
brand
(the
lower
the
abandonment,
the
higher
the
consumer
passion
for
a
given
brand).
In
this
way,
brands
that
are
passionately
loved
or
loathed
are
equally
represented.
We’ve
also
overlaid
our
behavioural
insights
to
adjust
for
consumers
more
disposed
to
leaving
posiAve
or
negaAve
feedback.

8. 4. Customer Profiles
How
does
the
customer
profile
of
consumer
credit
firms
vary?
23%
of
our
Silver
Surfers
used
P2P
loan
providers
(adjusted
for
investors).
P2P
Loan
providers
are
also
underweight
in
the
key
Young,
Free
&
Single
customer
profile,
signaling
an
opportunity
for
further
organic
growth
The
Young,
Free
&
Single
customer
profile
has
the
highest
customer
saAsfacAon
(89%)
with
their
consumer
credit
providers
Credit
Check
Provider
Short
Term
Credit
Provider
Personal
Loan
Provider
Credit
Card
Provider
P2P
Loan
Provider
Credit
Broker
Credit
Report
Provider
Customer
Profiles
Young,
Free
&
Single
Family
Empty
Nesters
Silver
Surfers
39%
35%
16%
10%
Customer
Profiles
(By
Business
Type)
Key:
Business
Type
8
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
H:
44%
H:
39%
H:
24%
H:
23%

9. 5. Channel Preferences
The
way
consumers
buy,
and
engage
with
consumer
credit
products
is
changing
fast
Channel
Preferences
Website
Mobile
App
Telephone
Branch
38%
49%
7%
6%
H:
65%
H:
59%
H:
13%
H:
10%
Already
the
dominant
channel,
among
the
Young,
Free
&
Single
customer
profile,
mobile
app
preference
rises
to
54%
Consumers
who
prefer
branches,
had
the
lowest
customer
saAsfacAon
(82%)
Credit
Check
Provider
Short
Term
Credit
Provider
Personal
Loan
Provider
Credit
Card
Provider
P2P
Loan
Provider
Credit
Broker
Credit
Report
Provider
Key:
Business
Type
9
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
The
preferred
channels
vary
significantly
by
business
type,
with
P2P
loan
customers
and
Short
Term
Credit
Customers
showing
strong
preferences
for
Websites
and
Mobile
Apps
respecAvely
Channel
Preferences
(By
Business
Type)

10. 6. Customer Experiences: Not Fairly Treated
What
makes
consumers
feel
like
they’ve
not
been
treated
fairly?
M
Leathley,
Manchester
Credit
Cards
10
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
Short
Term
Credit
Although
44%
of
Short
Term
Credit
consumers
fall
within
the
the
Young,
Free
&
Single
profile,
they
account
for
just
29%
Short
Term
Credit
consumers
who
feel
unfairly
treated
“Staff
are
rude.
I
phoned
to
pay
off
my
loan
earlier
than
stated
and
was
told
I
was
not
allowed
to?
Don't
understand
that
at
all
so
got
through
to
a
manager
who
was
also
rude
and
told
me
the
same.
She
said
she
would
pass
it
to
the
complaints
department.
A
year
later
I
am
sAll
waiAng
for
my
call
back.
“This
credit
card
is
easy
to
apply
for
especially
if
you
have
a
current
account
with
them.
They
are
quick
to
up
credit
limits
but
if
you
struggle
one
month,
the
charges
soon
add
up
and
the
card
is
expensive.
I
wouldn't
recommend
this
card
to
anyone
as
there
are
cards
with
beder
APR
and
incenAves
to
use
than
this
one.
H
Elvin,
Hull
High
Interest
Rates
12%
Poor
Customer
Service
38%
Perceived
Lack
of
Care
50%
High
Interest
Rates
17%
Poor
Customer
Service
66%
Perceived
Lack
of
Care
17%
A
perceived
lack
of
care
reflects
a
feeling
that
brands
don’t
care,
and/or
are
unwilling
to
work
with
customers
to
deliver
a
posiAve
outcomes

11. 6. Customer Experiences: Getting to 5 Stars
Are
there
any
common
traits
shared
across
top
performing
brands?
With
such
a
broad
spectrum
of
providers
and
customer
experiences,
we’ve
looked
into
whether
there
are
any
common
traits
between
our
most
passionately
loved
consumer
credit
firms.
What
do
their
customers
say?
11
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016
Our
most
passionately
loved
consumer
credit
firms
share
some
common
traits.
For
example,
their
customer
feedback
draws
heavily
on
posiAve
brand
and
posiAve
customer
lifestyle
associaAons
as
well
as
negaAve
percepAons
of
the
wider
market.
For
example,
ClearScore
helps
consumers
to
beder
understand
and
improve
their
finances…and
does
this
for
free,
unlike
its
established
compeAtors.
Tesco
Bank
&
M&S
Bank
have
successfully
linked
a
consumer
credit
product
with
saving
money.
M
McPhail,
Aberdeen
“Pain-­‐free
rewards
and
more!
The
card
was
simple
to
set-­‐up
and
came
with
in
store
benefits
of
20%
of
M&S
purchases.
I
receive
store
vouchers
regularly
based
on
the
points
I
build
up
and
online
customer
service
is
excellent.
Y
Chamberlain,
Bridlington
“I
love
having
this
credit
card.
I
get
all
my
purchases
on
it
just
to
get
Clubcard
points
so
I
get
loads
of
money
off
when
they
send
me
my
Clubcard
vouchers.
Added
bonus
was
the
sign-­‐up
because
I
got
0%
on
purchases
for
21
months.
K
Saunders,
Liverpool
“Free
and
beder
than
the
rest.
I
love
ClearScore
and
the
new
features
they’re
adding.
I
feel
much
more
in
control
of
my
finances.
Credit
Cards
Credit
Cards
Credit
Reports

12. 7. Company Preferences
1
2
RecommendaEons
Good
service
3
4
Ease
of
use
Transparency
/
Trustworthiness
5
6
Good
interest
rates
IncenEves
7
8
Great
websites
DesperaEon
9
Product
features
Aggregate
Primary
Reasons
55%
We
asked
consumers
what
their
primary
reason
for
choosing
a
parEcular
company
was
RecommendaAons
lead
the
way.
This
includes
a
mixture
of
word
of
mouth,
posiAve
reviews/raAngs,
and
favorable
media
coverage
The
increased
scruAny
of
a
number
of
consumer
credit
providers
over
the
last
few
years
has
helped
to
make
transparency/trustworthiness
(brand)
a
top
four
factor
influencing
buying
behaviour
6%
of
all
consumers
felt
‘trapped’
into
picking
a
company
that
provided
consumer
credit,
suggesAng
that
a
strong
credit
support
network
remains
important
22%
17%
16%
10%
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
How
does
this
picture
change
by
business
type?
What
profile
does
your
business
have?
Ask
us
12
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016

13. With
an
87%
overall
saAsfacAon
raAng,
consumers
are
on
the
whole
happy
with
the
performance
of
their
consumer
credit
providers,
although
aware
that
the
value
for
money
offered
could
at
Ames
be
beder.
And
yet
with
‘good
interest
rates’
cited
by
just
9%
of
consumers
as
a
primary
factor
influencing
buying
decisions,
‘desperaAon’
compelling
6%
of
consumers
to
seek
consumer
credit,
and
9%
feeling
like
they’ve
been
lent
too
much,
there’s
sAll
scope
to
deliver
beder
customer
outcomes.
Our
dashboard
also
shows
that
55%
of
buying
decisions
revolve
around
recommendaAons,
good
service,
and
ease
of
use,
and
that
a
lenders
perceived
‘transparency/trustworthiness’
is
now
the
fourth
most
important
determinant
of
company
preference.
At
Ames
heralded
as
a
potenAal
alternaAve
to
short
term
credit
providers,
we
asked
our
customer
sample
if
they
knew
about
Credit
Unions
and
the
products
that
they
offer.
Among
the
populaAon
that
would
most
benefit
from
their
services,
awareness
of
Credit
Unions
was
79%.
With
awareness
much
higher
than
anAcipated,
our
dashboard
strongly
suggests
that
in
order
to
provide
viable
compeAAon,
Credit
Unions
must
first
beder
tackle
the
top
three
determinants
of
consumer
credit
buying.
Finally,
just
5%
of
our
respondents
viewed
‘product
features’
as
the
primary
moAvaAon
for
selecAng
a
provider,
signalling
that
opportuniAes
for
agile
innovaAon
and
market
disrupAon
may
not
be
too
far
away.
And
with
54%
of
our
‘Young,
Free
&
Single’
respondents
preferring
to
access
financial
services
through
their
mobile
apps,
our
dashboard
provides
further
evidence
that
delivering
a
great
mobile
experience
should
be
at
the
front
of
the
queue
for
every
consumer
credit
CTO,
CMO
and
CEO.
8. Summary
13
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016

14. 9. Your Business Insight
Do
you
want
to
lead
the
market?
Smart
Money
People
can
provide
a
dashboard
tailored
to
your
company
that
provides
unique
insight
to
help
you
beder
understand
your
customers,
compeAtors
and
market
opportuniAes.
Access
to
market
staEsEcs
and
analysis.
We’ll
provide
you
with
access
to
our
market
staAsAcs
and
analysis
to
help
you
beder
understand
the
market
in
2016.
Your
dashboard
is
available
today
Comprehensive
benchmarking
against
your
peer
group.
We’ll
tell
you
how
your
performance
and
regulatory
metrics
compare
against
your
compeAtors,
and
highlight
potenAal
opportuniAes.
Strategic
analysis
of
your
compeEEve
posiEon.
Why
do
customers
choose
you?
Where
do
customers
perceive
you
to
be
strong?
Where
are
your
weaknesses?
How
do
your
compeAtors
win
customers?
1
2
3
The
Smart
Money
People
team
is
led
by
Mike
FoAs.
Mike
is
an
experienced
financial
services
consultant
and
thought
leader
who
has
contributed
to
think
tanks
and
spoken
at
industry
events,
such
as
the
ABI’s
Big
Data
and
Digital
conference.
He
is
a
graduate
of
the
University
of
Cambridge.
hello@smartmoneypeople.com
0191
211
1939
14
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016

15. The
Smart
Money
People
plasorm
captures
a
range
of
performance
and
regulatory
data
points
(see
adjacent).
Smart
Money
People
delivers
insight
for
banks,
insurers,
building
socieAes
and
alternaAve
finance
providers.
Our
insight
is
more
Emely,
more
granular
and
more
cost
effecEve.
We
use
analyAcs
to
beder
understand
customers’
free
text.
We
blend
this
with
our
structured
data
points
to
deliver
deeper
insight
and
to
beder
understand
the
market.
All
Smart
Money
People
data
is
at
the
product
and
brand
level,
and
is
rooted
in
the
customer
journey.
We
also
understand
the
affluence,
demographics,
channel
preference
and
locaAon
of
our
community
Overall
RaEng
NPS
Free
Text
Value
For
Money
Customer
Service
Understood
Product
Details
Treated
Fairly
As
we
encourage
our
community
to
write
mulAple
reviews
(across
providers/products)
we
understand
more
about
them
behaviourally
10. About Smart Money People
15
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016

16. 10. About Smart Money People: Methodology
Sample
Size
A
total
of
2,511
consumers
shared
their
consumer
credit
experiences
with
Smart
Money
People
in
H1
2016.
Sample
Recruitment
Respondents
were
largely
self-­‐selecAng
and
located
across
the
UK.
All
respondents
parAcipated
via
the
Smart
Money
People
online
plasorm.
Brand
and
Business
Coverage
This
dashboard
includes
customer
insight
on
28
short
term
credit
providers,
17
personal
loan
providers,
19
credit
card
providers,
23
P2P
loan
providers,
4
credit
brokers
and
4
credit
check
firms.
A
number
of
providers
have
mulAple
products,
e.g.
Santander
(credit
cards
and
personal
loans),
but
the
total
number
of
firms
represented
is
86.
Demographic
Profile
The
demographic
profile
of
our
sample:
-­‐ Young,
Free
and
Single:
39%
-­‐ Family:
35%
-­‐ Empty
Nesters:
16%
-­‐ Silver
Surfers:
10%
About
the
Consumer
Credit
Passion
Index
Smart
Money
People
has
created
the
Consumer
Credit
Passion
Index
to
idenAfy
the
consumer
credit
brands
which
deliver
the
strongest
emoAonal
response
from
customers.
We’ve
calculated
this
based
on
the
percentage
of
consumers
that
have
landed
on
a
review
page
but
subsequently
abandoned
their
review
(a
measure
of
the
strength
of
emoAon
towards
a
given
brand).
We’ve
overlaid
our
behavioural
insights
to
adjust
for
consumers
more
disposed
to
leaving
posiAve
or
negaAve
feedback.
16
–
Consumer
Credit
Dashboard:
The
State
of
Play
H1
2016