That’s financial services for you

Whenever I attend a 50-plus focus group and the topic of banks, building societies and other variants of financial service companies are discussed I can guarantee there will be a huge intake of breath and then tidal wave of vitriolic abuse.

Recently I did some research looking at the 50-plus’s reaction to different types of advertising creative. The ads from financial services companies had to be dropped from the sample because the viewer’s reaction was not about the brand and the creative but the category – shysters and schmucks would be a glowing way of putting it.

Now I read that in the UK there are 27 accounts restricted to senior savers – but they can all be beaten by non-age specific competitors. A quote from the analyst who did the research:

"Accounts restricted to senior savers have been market leaders in the past. However, the eagerness of many providers to attract retail funds at the moment means that – without exception – the over-50s-only savings products can be beaten by products without such age-related restrictions."

Anybody from the Financial Services listening? Dick Stroud