Personal Financial Management Tools

To accommodate consumers’ growing desire to get a handle on their finances, an increasing number of financial institutions and standalone providers are offering personal financial management (PFM) tools. Providing such tools can deliver a good return on investment by increasing customer satisfaction and retention.

According to a recent survey, one quarter of online users of PFM tools were less likely to switch banks, and one in six reported being more likely to recommend their bank to family and friends as a result of using such tools.

And there’s more good news. Research conducted by Fiserv indicates that there’s significant potential for growth in the PFM market, and also that consumers are more likely to trust the security of their financial institutions’ online channel than that of third-party PFM websites. Nearly 40 percent of the consumers surveyed indicated that PFM tools would be beneficial, yet only 15 percent had used a PFM service in the past 90 days. Of those who had used a PFM service in the last 90 days, an overwhelming majority (68 percent) reported doing so from an online banking site.