NatWest are proud to be shortlisted for the UK Content Awards

NatWest Bank is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom. Our CEO Alison Rose set our mission to be a relationship bank for a digital world. Together our purpose is to champion potential; breaking down barriers and building financial confidence so the 19 million people, families and businesses we serve in communities throughout the UK and Ireland can rebuild and thrive.

Supporting customers at every stage of their lives is one of our strategic priorities, Alison shared in a letter to shareholders “The way people live is changing, and their expectations of companies are changing too. I firmly believe in response, we have to adopt a new approach that moves away from a view that is defined by products and transactions, and uses the strength of the relationships we have with all of our stakeholders as the real test of our progress.”

What was the problem for customers?

Across our retail business area, we found that most of the messages our customers were seeing focused too much on our sales, rather than their needs. A review found only 4% of messages directly spoke to what our customers care about – which is saving money, saving time, and finding peace of mind when money is tight. To honour our purpose, we needed to shake things up and focus on building trust; showcasing money saving tips and how our products could help solve money problems.

What did we do to solve it?

We set out to work better together and deliver on our purpose, serving messages to customers which were useful, timely and supported them in building towards their goals. This meant setting up a team dedicated to one goal – increasing the number of messages which directly help customers.

Spoiler: we flew past our initial target and ended up reaching a massive 30% of problem-solving messages (compared to 4%) which is about the same as 28 million customer views.

Working together, we created highly personalised messages based on customer data, showing where they could save money, time, or giving them additional peace of mind. We demonstrated small, specific, and simple changes which we knew were relevant to them and would generate impressive results. We’ve captured some of the highlights below.

How did this help customers?

Spending

• 5k customers every month are saving a combined total of £60k thanks to our reminders that we have a free Credit Score service on our app, so there’s no need for them to pay that subscription fee for another app
• We’re saving customers an average of £132 by showing them ways to cut back on lots of individual streaming accounts and switch to a cheaper bundled option

Money savvy

• We’re showing customers ‘free to use’ ATMs in their local area to avoid paying fees in taking out their own money, leading to a total of £520k per year saved for customers, benefitting those who most need these small regular savings
• We’re reducing lost money to scams by 50% by messaging customers who are regular investors or savers with clear information on the most common scams which has avoided £1.3m in losses this year

Young People & Families

• We’re welcoming new students and highlighting top features in our Mobile App for budgeting as well as hints and tips for the best student finance options

• We’re showing students other available products which are designed specifically for them

What’s the end result?

Thanks to the hard work and passion of our team, our purpose is now clear in our communication with more than 35% of messages now focused on supporting customer goals (rather than pushing product information). Every month, more than 101k customers are clicking on the 60 messages the team has created and the savings are undeniable, showing just how important these small changes are for our customers, especially in the middle of this cost-of-living crisis where every penny counts.

Being shortlisted for a UK Content Award is a fantastic achievement that we are all incredibly proud of. We are being truly purpose driven by putting customers at the heart of what we do, ultimately helping them thrive and achieve their goals. Our commitment to this journey of savings tips and savvy choices layers over time so that our customers can build their money knowhow and continue to get the most out of their money. When money is less of a pressure, we all lead happier and healthier lives, and at NatWest, we’re delighted to play a small part in giving our customers this peace of mind.

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