Price Comparison Sites in Financial Services - UK - November 2018

OVERVIEW
What you need to know
Products covered in this Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The market
DCTs market study identifies opportunities for improvement
Increasing competition will bring both opportunities and challenges
Companies and brands
Comparethemarket.com is the most popular PCW for finance
Figure 1: Price comparison websites used for researching financial services products, September 2018
PCWs are viewed positively, but need to do more to differentiate
Figure 2: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, August 2018
Banks adopt marketplace models
Amazon rumoured to be launching an insurance PCW
Advertising spend remains steady in 2017/18
Figure 3: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by price comparison websites on financial services, 2013/14-2017/18
The consumer
PCWs most popular for comparing insurance
Figure 4: Products researched through a price comparison website, September 2018
High purchase rates for insurance following research
Figure 5: Products purchased through a price comparison website, by products researched through a price comparison website, September 2018
Open Banking could help solve product frustrations
Figure 6: Frustrations experienced when using a price comparison website, September 2018
Two in five would give a PCW access to their data
Figure 7: Likelihood of sharing financial data with a price comparison website, September 2018
Security needs to be guaranteed if brands want people to share data
Figure 8: Concerns with sharing data with a price comparison website, September 2018
One PCW isn’t sufficient for research
Figure 9: Attitudes towards price comparison websites, September 2018
What we think
ISSUES AND INSIGHTS
The tech threat: should existing providers fear the likes of Amazon?
The facts
The implications
Rewards breed false loyalty
The facts
The implications
THE MARKET – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
DCTs market study identifies opportunities for improvement
Increasing competition will bring both opportunities and challenges
MARKET ENVIRONMENT
CMA’s market study identifies opportunities for improvement
Increasing competition will bring both opportunities and challenges
COMPANIES AND BRANDS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Comparethemarket.com is the most popular PCW for finance
PCWs are viewed positively, but need to do more to differentiate
Banks adopt marketplace models
Amazon rumoured to be launching an insurance PCW
Advertising spend remains steady in 2017/18
MARKET SHARE
Comparethemarket.com is the most popular PCW for finance
Figure 10: Price comparison websites used for researching financial services products, September 2018
A third have used only one site
Figure 11: Number of price comparison websites used to research financial services products, September 2018
BRAND RESEARCH
What you need to know
Brand map
Figure 12: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, August 2018
Key brand metrics
Figure 13: Key metrics for selected brands, August 2018
Moneysupermarket.com is most closely associated with trust
Figure 14: Attitudes, by brand, August 2018
Comparethemarket.com most strongly associated with fun
Figure 15: Brand personality – macro image, August 2018
Confused.com and Gocompare.com viewed less favourably than other brands
Figure 16: Brand personality – micro image, August 2018
Brand analysis
Comparethemarket.com stands out from other leading PCWs
Figure 17: User profile of Comparethemarket.com, August 2018
Moneysupermarket.com could benefit from more advertising continuity
Figure 18: User profile of Moneysupermarket.com, August 2018
uSwitch.com viewed positively despite lower usage
Figure 19: User profile of uSwitch.com, August 2018
Confused.com takes on new brand image
Figure 20: User profile of Confused.com, August 2018
Gocompare.com looks to grow as an independent company
Figure 21: User profile of Gocompare.com, August 2018
LAUNCH ACTIVITY AND INNOVATION
Accepted-only product results
Figure 22: Realrates.com results image
Automated switching
Do we need a comparison site for comparison sites?
Amazon rumoured to be launching an insurance PCW
Reverse marketplace Honcho set to launch
Banks adopt marketplace models
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING ACTIVITY
Advertising spend remains steady in 2017/18
Figure 23: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by price comparison websites on financial services, 2013/14-2017/18
Comparethemarket.com remains as the highest spender
Figure 24: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by price comparison websites on financial services, by advertiser, 2015/16-2017/18
TV accounts for more than two thirds of total spend
Figure 25: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by price comparison websites on financial services, by media type, 2017/18
Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
THE CONSUMER – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
PCWs most popular for comparing insurance
High purchase rates for insurance following research
Open Banking could help solve product frustrations
Two in five would give a PCW access to their data
Security needs to be guaranteed if brands want people to share data
One PCW isn’t sufficient for research
PRODUCT RESEARCH 
Two in three use PCWs to search for insurance…
…but other financial services products lag behind
Figure 26: Products researched through a price comparison website, September 2018
Younger users more likely to use PCWs for more than just insurance
Figure 27: Products researched through a price comparison website, by age, September 2018
PURCHASE ACTIVITY
3 in 4 go on to purchase car insurance after researching it
Figure 28: Products purchased through a price comparison website, by products researched through a price comparison website, September 2018
FRUSTRATIONS USING PRICE COMPARISON WEBSITES
Open Banking could help solve product frustrations
Figure 29: Frustrations experienced when using a price comparison website, September 2018
Faster applications times are a key selling point
Non-insurance customers more likely to have experienced frustrations
Figure 30: Frustrations experienced when using a price comparison website, by products researched, September 2018
DATA SHARING WITH PRICE COMPARISON WEBSITES
Two in five would give a PCW access to their data
Figure 31: Likelihood of sharing financial data with a price comparison website, September 2018
Likelihood to share data is higher among younger generations
Figure 32: Likelihood of sharing financial data with a price comparison website, September 2018
IMPORTANT FACTORS WHEN SHARING DATA
Users will expect sensible use of their data
Security needs to be guaranteed if brands want people to share data
Figure 33: Concerns with sharing data with a price comparison website, September 2018
ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRICE COMPARISON WEBSITES
One PCW isn’t sufficient for research
Figure 34: Attitudes towards price comparison websites, September 2018
Regular usage will make apps more relevant
FinTech bank marketplace models appeal to comfortable Millennials
Figure 35: Price Comparison Websites in Financial Services – CHAID – Tree output, September 2018
APPENDIX – DATA SOURCES, ABBREVIATIONS AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Abbreviations
Consumer research methodology