Historically, few firms have given too much thought to this concern. It would be heartening to believe this is changing and that some of the positive trends now emerging could be traced to more than the buoying bottom-line realities of an economic upturn.
It is vital to note, too, that consumer perceptions of the financial services industry in its entirety remain thoroughly underwhelming. The most cursory examination of the data is sufficient to confirm the road to redemption is still a long one.
Yet we are seeing steps in the right direction, and that has to count for something. Now the momentum must be maintained.
James Devlin is professor of Financial Decision-Making at Nottingham University Business School and director of the Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services
TRUST AND FAIRNESS INDICES
WHAT ARE THEY?
The Trust and Fairness Indices use responses from online surveys of thousands of consumers to gauge perceptions of the financial services industry. Providers are divided into seven categories – investment companies, banks, building societies, brokers/advisers, credit card companies, life insurance companies and general insurance companies – and awarded index scores of between +100 and -100. Scores below zero indicate a perceived lack of trustworthiness/fairness, while scores above zero reflect increasing trustworthiness/fairness.
