11:FS research examines the impact of fintech on the evolving UK savings market

11:FS, the challenger firm defining and building truly digital financial services, today announced new research examining how new fintech entrants have sparked innovation in personal finance and specifically the UK savings market.

In 2018, UK consumers were more likely to be borrowers than savers for the first time in nearly 30 years as average outgoings surpassed income, according to the Office for  National Statistics. 11:FS’s latest research examines whether new market entrants could help consumers save.

New digital savings propositions are being developed which attempt to get to the heart of why people want to save while also addressing the hurdles that are perhaps getting in the way of their saving as effectively as they could be.

The report provides a detailed look at the UK savings landscape as well as how it is evolving as innovative new savings propositions come to market. It examines how these propositions are changing consumer attitudes towards saving and helping people to establish more positive savings habits through:

• Automation
• Savings Goals & Pots
• Marketplaces

“We took a detailed look at how the UK savings market is evolving to better meet the needs of retail customers. The competitor landscape has certainly diversified, driven by increasing demand for digital solutions and a greater willingness among consumers to consider alternative financial providers,” commented report author, Amy Gavin – researcher at 11:FS. “We found that these alternative providers are challenging the customer mindset and offering products that bridge the gap between understanding how to save money and doing it in a sustainable way.” The report reveals how consumer attitudes and behaviours towards saving will experience further change, as alternative providers demonstrate the potential of convenient, competitive, accessible and goals-based solutions designed with key savings needs in mind.

“The ability of challengers to successfully grow their customer base will depend on the willingness of savers to trust new brands to meet their financial needs. This trust factor is likely to increase as alternative providers become more established and prove the value of their offerings vs incumbent providers,” added Gavin. As a result, the competitor landscape will continue to evolve and diversify as alternative providers gain traction with customers and steadily take market share away from the incumbent providers. The available range of savings products will widen as a variety of new and innovative solutions enter the market, driven by advances in technology and increasingly strong consumer demand for digital-first products.