Practice papers: The evolution of segmentation methods in financial services: Where next?

Over the last few years, the financial services market has seen a proliferation of new players and new channels. Customers have increased expectations of being offered the right products, at the right time and for the right reasons. Demographics and affluence have always been the backbone of segmentation tools, but is this still sufficient to meet the challenges that today's marketers face? This paper is a review of how customer segmentation has evolved within the financial services market and the corresponding demand for consumer information. It assesses whether today's segmentation tools remain sufficiently innovative to provide marketers with the information they require in order to maintain competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace.