Shaping Banking Propositions Around Life Goals and Events

This report uses data from the analyst’s 2024 Financial Services Consumer Survey to assess how consumer demand for financial services and characteristics change as they go through life and different life events occur. It begins with an analysis of early family life, either the birth of a first child or marriage, before turning to the end of family life, be it through separation or children moving out. The report looks at consumers preparing to retire, assessing how this life stage changes their opinion of their main bank and how often they look to use its services. Other life stages assessed include the first property purchase, suffering a health issue, and moving to another country.

Consumers starting a family, either through marriage or the birth of a first child, prioritize saving to buy a house. Consumers who are about to marry or recently married are more open to trying new or innovative products and are focused on improving their credit scores, opening opportunities for players offering creative or novel budgeting or financial literacy tools.

Scope

• More than a quarter of consumers around early family life are saving to buy a house-comfortably above the global average.
• Building up savings is a life goal for fewer consumers after children have just moved out than those with children still at home.
• Saving for retirement becomes an overbearing goal as consumers approach the twilight of their careers, with approximately 50% of consumers who are approaching this stage being focused on retirement savings.

Reasons to Buy

• Understand how consumers’ financial goals change around different life events.
• Develop strategies to target consumers early in their lives to maximize lifetime value.
• Discern areas in which consumers feel banks cannot help them with their financial goals.