Financial Mindsets Survey. OWN 2018

What shapes people’s relationships with money

To understand future customers of OWN, we have initiated a qualitative customer research. Its pilot phase was conducted in November-December 2018 in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In this first wave we focused on most financially vulnerable demographic segments, primarily women and young people, who lack the means to grow their wealth and achieve financial well-being.

Below you may find some representative statements from customer interviews. They highlight the key behaviours, habits and pains of people dealing with financial topics. The research will be continued in other parts of the Switzerland to conclude a holistic qualitative survey and validate the outcomes for the entire country.

 

Behaviours

Money matters are an integrated part of people’s lives. Apart from the actual financial situation, the way people spend and manage money very much depends on the age, situation in the family and education. We saw five distinct behavior mindsets around people’s relationship with money. These mindsets are key for us to design, develop and market our service.

“I don’t have money to start investing. My immediate aim is to get rid of my credit card debt. Maybe in 10 years, once I have a good job I will do it.
”
— Kyle, 20
“If I need advice I go to my husband. If he does not know the answer, he will ask his friends working in the bank. It has always worked so far.”
— Yulia, 38
“Sustainability is important. I would like to be able to choose what I invest in. For example, I would like to do something against the climate change.”
— Christine, 41
“We have mortgage for the apartment we bought a year ago. There was no other way how we could do this. I don’t like it, but I accept it.”
— Marina, 56
“I need money to live life the way I want. I chose to study medicine also because it will guarantee me a good income in the future.
”
— Alex, 23
“I don’t have time to follow the financial markets. And I am even not sure if I need to do it at all. First of all, I need to find time to learn how it all works and how I can benefit from this knowledge.”
— Anja, 29

Finance

In this section we investigated on current financial products & services, current and future financial status. According to our findings, level of financial literacy is strongly correlated with the active usage of financial services, confidence in managing them and openness to innovative solutions.

“I think I could try it with investments. I even think I have to do it very soon. But I have no idea what to start with. Somehow I do not want to go with banks. They make money for themselves, not for me.”
— Alexandra, 37
“I don’t have any investments with my bank. What I have are some shares of my previous employer. Not sure I will keep them. Nothing really happened to it in the last 9 years.”
— Maria 41
“I want a bank to look into my situation, empathize and give me personalized advise or solution. Now they only handle me as a number in their database. My husband has a chronical disease, we have low income, therefore, for example they will never give us a credit.”
— Anja, 29

Technology

Technology plays a critical role in relationship with fin services. The tech solution has to be intuitive, accessible, transparent, highly customizable and interactive (most customers want to have a real person for contact behind the technology).

“Looking for some information on insurance google for options, but I would not trust the reviews on the web when it comes to my own money.”
— Michelle, 43
“I manage my life via my phone. From emails , messengers, social media and Google maps to my breastfeeding calendar.”
— Anja, 29
“Big Data is everywhere. That is how companies develop and compete today. If this is a price of getting a good service, I am fine to share my personal information. But it would be still good to know how they use it.”
— Maria, 41