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The future of financial comparison websites in BelgiumIn collaboration with

2 years of case s tudies

2 rounds of focus groups

6 S tudies from F orrester

B elgium is the only majorE uropean market without a large

comparison webs ite bus iness

What would need to be doneto succeed in B elgium ?

The ques tionThe Data

Interviews with 126 comparison webs ites in 16 countries

O ver 2000 consumer interviews (in B elgium)

C omparis on webs ites exis t in every E uropean c ountry, how long do you think itwill be before they s how s ome s uc c es s in the B elgian Market

O 6 mo O 1 year O 2 or more years

What types of c omparis on webs ites do you think will s uc c eed in B elgium ?

real comparison s ites like the UK (moneysupermarket.com) O yes O no money driven comparison s ites (independer.nl) O yes O no hidden comparison s ites (assurland.fr) O yes O no

In your opinion c ould a c omparis on s ite be s et up that provides leads loc ally ?

Our target is 80 % market c overage, are we dreaming… any s ugges tions ..

I would like more information on

• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

Today’s challenges

Information overload Matching consumers and advertisers Personal advice not general answers

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NEED FOR SIMPLICITYExample: mobile providers

…some of them offering +10 tariff plans

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SEARCH FOR INFORMATION

HOW IT USED TO BE

2008

SHOWING ADS

LOOKING FORINFORMATION

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LOOKING… More buying on line than in Holland Internet as a source for information

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Millions of sites…

2.2 million sites / 50,000 searches per month = 40 sites per search (NL) 520 site per search (FR) !!

Competition is tough

Dis tribution of s ites by pag e rank

G oog le All B elg ian B anking &P R S ites * Ins uranc e Index0 18.5% 12.0% 65 1 3.4% 4.7% 136 2 5.3% 10.4% 195 3 14.0% 13.4% 96 4 22.2% 16.7% 75 5 19.1% 19.6% 103 6 14.0% 16.0% 115 7 0.6% 5.4% 858 8 2.0% 1.6% 79 9 0.7% 0.2% 21

10 0.0% 0.1% 217

7-10 3.4% 7.2% 211

* personal and family s ites excluded

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But hard is it really ?

• 1500 keywords (Insurance and banking)

• 4400 sites that showed up in a top 10 ranking

• 2 measures– Num = number of

appearances– Scores for positions

Google rank for keyword

PointsAllocated

1 422 123 94 65 56 47 38 39 3

10 3

S ite num s c ore rank num s c ore rank num s c ore rankabnamro.be 1 3 1345 1 3 2592abnamro.nl 9 97 114 4 15 460 13 112 183allianz.be 1 3 1438 8 36 312 9 39 604argenta.be 3 13 578 2 6 814 5 19 822axa.be 44 746 7 54 581 6 98 1327 6bkcp.be 2 7 914 2 9 656 4 16 914cbc.be 1 42 281 1 42 539centea.be 1 9 749 1 9 1499citibank.be 12 90 125 12 90 231coronadirect.be 1 3 1438 1 3 2761deltalloydlife.be 1 3 1446 1 3 2796deutschebank.be 9 46 261 1 3 1182 10 49 443dexia.com 1 42 284 1 9 649 2 51 420ethias .be 33 386 22 49 470 16 82 856 13fortis .be 2 13 509 2 13 1015fortisbank.be 1 3 1492 1 3 2885fortisbank.nl 6 31 369 6 31 662fortisbanking.be 4 18 479 4 22 383 8 40 603generali.be 5 22 391 5 22 780gestionprivee.fr.fortis .com 1 3 1746 1 3 3403ing.be 19 113 100 23 192 59 42 305 63insurance.be.fortis .com 1 5 1008 1 5 2051kbc.be 16 172 60 5 66 153 21 238 84kbc.com 2 6 1085 2 6 1803kbcverzekeringen.info 1 6 899 1 6 1804passtravaux.fr 2 84 143 2 84 254privatebanking.fortis .com 3 49 223 3 49 445rabobank.be 2 16 523 2 16 910tatv.be 2 12 597 2 12 1203touring.be 1 9 735 1 9 1472vivium.be 3 12 592 3 12 1191

Total C ount of c ountins uranc ebanking

• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

COMPARISON WEBSITES

Give objective information (usually) Compare prices (and ratings) 3 primary areas of business

Products Travel Financial Services

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1. People fill in personal data and needs

2. They compare the different rates

3. If they apply, the advertiser pays for the lead

How they work…

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A simple business model• Costs per lead about the

same price as other leads

Mortgages• Typical price: 40-80 Eur• Print 60-140 EUR• Direct Mail: 60-80 Eur

But conversion rate a lot higher

Conversion Rates vs. Direct mail– Home loans +280%– Credit Cards + 80%– Insurance +170%

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Margins not hurt by comparison websites

ING.nl

BE

ING.Be

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A booming Business

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Turnover BeatThatQuote.com

£0

£5,000,000

£10,000,000

£15,000,000

£20,000,000

£25,000,000

£30,000,000

£35,000,000

2005 2006 2007 2008

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70different price comparison websites in UK

(even sites to compare comparison sites)

More than

Online verzekeren is het tweede internetproduct in NederlandSerge Fenenko (Novocortex) woensdag 6 februari 2008, 13:12Rubriek: Cijfers en feiten | Trends | Bekeken: 8551 keer (4861 keer doorgeklikt)

21% that looked on-line bought on-line

Lot’s of business models– Truly independent

• Scrapers• Advertiser dbase driven• A combination

– Ranking based on $ (Independer.nl, sort of)

– Hidden suppliers (Assurland.fr)– Just a lead generators (Kwanta Kosta)

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• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

Forrester research

• Comparison sites not the first place– They get there after looking for a while– Used to confirm / eliminate

• Often no on-line activity• Almost always a 2nd source of information• Often several sites (2-3 sites on average)• A repeat business (2.2 products / year)

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http://www.checkit.nl/pdf/whitepaper_internet_en_financiele_dienstverlening.pdf

S earc h C omparis on(g oog le) S ites

1 L ooking for information 67% 33%

C ompare supplier specs 44% 53%

C ompare prices 21% 65%

3 B uying 11% 7%

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Iprospect (NL)

now

Jan Hilde

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week 1

family & friends

bank websites

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33

34

week 235

A new bankfound on internet

week 336

week 437

The net result

• Consumers– Tired feet– Lots of insecurity about the decision– “you gotta negotiate” is the message for friends

• Banks– 1 in 8 hit rate– Lots of wasted time– Probably not much margin– Hundreds in contact costs

A lose / lose business model

Summary: why they work…

• Motivated consumers• Something advertisers could never

do• Win/ Win

– Consumers : easy– Advertisers: cheaper and they can select

clients

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40

Belgium

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The UK

Comparison site

Comparison site

Comparison site

Comparison site

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Not 7 less 3But a log difference

something like 27 vs 23

836 K vs. .5 K

B elg iumF R NL

Mes fournisseursAanbieders 2.3% 1.8%

Haka 0.3% 0.3%

G uide-epargespaargids

E ccent 0.8% 8.0%

Totals 4.0% 4.5%

1.8% 3.7%

Half of Net users have heard of at least one financial price comparison site. Belgium: 9%

A quarter of Net users have used a price comparison site in the past year. Belgium: 4%

• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

Research• AFC: Academics for companies• Methodology: Web Survey to known internet

users• Data available

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NL FR TotalBanking 718 392 1110Insurance 550 322 872Total 1268 714 1982

Hypotheses• Online consumer behavior in

Belgium is similar to online consumer behavior in other EU countries.

• There is an unmet consumer need for online product research in the financial sector

• The online product research system has to be different from systems in other EU countries.

• Banks not listed at online financial product research systems experience negative effects

• Belgian online behavior is similar to other EU countries

• Consumers want more information, information they can’t find now

• Trust issues identified

• There would be a negative impact on companies not-listed banks

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Belgian consumers are also looking for financial information on line

41,5% of Belgian respondents have looked for financial product information online

Consumer information

68%

13%41%13%

11%15%11%

4%

Belgian results

52%

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Belgian usage is low low

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

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Which of the following have you used to research financial information?

8.6%

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Belgian trust is low

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

(in %)

Neutral

Enough trust

Little trust

No trust

A lot of trust

Do you trust price comparison websites?

NL

FR

32%

= enough trust + lots of trust

65%

Negative effects for not-listed banks?

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Language Negative impact Still consult

FR 45% 89%

NL 44% 90%

If your bank is not listed on a price comparison website, would this have a negative impact on consumer decision? Would consumers still consult your bank’s website?

Planned usage is highHow likely would you be to use a comparison website in the following categories

Very Very top 2 Unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Likely Totalbox score

Utilities (gas & electric) 7% 6% 14% 35% 38% # 74%Telephone 9% 7% 14% 37% 34% # 70%Internet 7% 9% 15% 36% 33% # 69%Television 8% 8% 17% 36% 32% # 67%Auto Insurance 11% 11% 18% 33% 27% # 60%Savings account 12% 11% 19% 31% 27% # 58%Home Insurance 10% 12% 20% 33% 25% # 58%Personal Loans 16% 10% 27% 26% 20% # 46%Credit Cards 15% 15% 26% 24% 20% # 44%Life Insusrance / Pension 16% 13% 28% 23% 20% # 43%Home Loans 18% 12% 31% 21% 17% # 39%

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Imagine a site…

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What would you do with a s ite as king for this information

I would never fill in my personal details on such a webs ite 59% 68% 61%

I would fill in my personal details and compare interests , however I wouldn't click through afterwards

36% 22% 34%

I would fill in my personal details and compare interests , I would then click through so a representative of the bank can contact me

5% 10% 6%

But we know what consumers wantWhat other information would you like ?

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NL FR TOTALSpecific product details 41.55% 44.42% 44.07%

Comparison of characteristics/prices of different banks 29.83% 31.15% 31.48%

What product is best for you 23.10% 25.19% 24.81%

Non-biased information about the product 14.31% 21.54% 16.67%

Information about saving and how to pick the best product 14.14% 17.88% 15.74%

Comparison of characteristics/prices of one specific bank 8.45% 11.92% 9.81%

Recommendations of specialists 8.79% 10.19% 9.63%

Opinions of other consumers 9.48% 5.96% 9.07%

Names of companies with products I am looking for 8.45% 8.46% 8.89%

Independent reports 7.93% 5.96% 7.78%

Information about service level and quality 4.31% 6.54% 5.00%

Other 1.90% 3.08% 2.22%

2 big issues to resolveTraffic = key element to the success of a price comparison website

No traffic = no businessSEO !

Consumer trust = key element to the success of a price comparison website

Do more than prices

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• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

The Belgian Challenge• Traffic• Skeptical consumers• Not used to buying financial services on line• A small market (less € for development)• No sites that have succeeded yet

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Info + Action = trust

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traffic

trust

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Video 123 gids

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• Build traffic• Build visibility in google• Build trust• Keep the comparison

site action orientated

Internet Insurances carMobile phone Insurances homeTelephone Insurances lifeTelevision ElectricityCredit cards Special deals (misc) SavingsLoansMortgages

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Our oldest site (after 11 weeks)

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Building a brandConsumer Objective source of

information No privileged advertisers Personal results A new starting point for

important decisions in their lives

Advertiser Professional environment Qualified leads They choose their clients Quick delivery A new, easy way to attract

customers

Our business model

Consumer focusConsumer Fair

Advertiser focus80% of companies

Neutral

Honest

Transparent

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A national email survey (500K – 1 million)

“How much could you save”and “say what you really think…”

– Build awareness– Collect data by category– Generate future leads / viral traffic

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Lot’s of testing to get it right…

More than price in the results

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Adding a local link

What we will offer…Quality feedback

• Results of survey• Verbatims for sites

Data loading

• Customer satisfaction rates• Expected coverage 20% of

contacts

Free (and proprietary) when you supply emails

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What we will offer…

• Free Opportunities to provide information in our advertiser section

• Pay per click leadsPrice similar to Google adwords, but more motivated consumers(or reciprocal links)

• Free comparisons for your products

• Highly qualified pay per click leads. Price similar to direct mail, but conversion rates much higher

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Timings• We are 3 months young

– 6 FTEs, 2 more planned– 11 sites running– 8 comparison sites designs in testing

Q uality S urveys Now

F inaliz e NL 123gids MayF R guide 123 May/J une

18 procent / 18 pourcent tes ting MayB eta vers ion J uneD ata links and c lient tes ting J une/J ulyL ive Augus t

National "what could you s ave s urvey" S eptember

• The Belgian Internet landscape• Comparison sites• Why do they work /international research• Belgian Research• Making a Belgian business• Discussion: making it work for you…

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Our questions– Comparison websites exist in every European country,

how long do you think it will be before they show some success in the Belgian Market

– What do you think the future of comparison websites will be in Belgium ?

– In your opinion could a comparison site be set up that provides leads locally ?

– Our target is 80 % market coverage, are we dreaming… any suggestions..