Client: Global Credit Card Provider
Service: Competitor Intelligence, Competitive Analysis
Geography: United Kingdom
Problem & Objective
Our client wanted to realise additional revenue by changing the policies for its ‘over-limit’ fees. Its problem was that it didn’t know what its competitors’ over limit fees policies were. So it was unsure what the competitive implications of any changes that it made would be. Intelligentsia was asked to research six competitors’ over limit fees policies.
The Challenge
While the six target companies did publish some information about their over-limit fees policies, it was insufficiently detailed for our client’s planning purposes.
The Resolution
Intelligentsia was briefed about our client’s policies. Then our field researchers interviewed the competition’s customers and spoke to their Sales and Commercial staff. They learned that:
- All six competitors charged fees as soon as their customers exceeded their credit limit; but our client operated a grace period.
- All competitors included all account charges or transactions in their customers balances. Our client excluded charges, which limited the potential revenue that it could generate.
- The competitors were less proactive than our client at informing their customers when they had exceeded their credit limits.
The Result
Intelligentsia’s insights convinced the client that it was losing potential fee income. It changed its over-limit fee policies and brought them into line with the market. Our client generated £5m of additional fee income in the first 12 months of making the changes.
