Examples of our work

Assessing for a national bank the benefits of free-to-use cash machines installed in deprived areas.

Examples of our Work - Finance, Investment and Insurance Market Research

Background

Our client, a national bank, installed over 300 free-to-use cash machines in supermarkets and post offices located in isolated or deprived regions of the country. Locations in which a machine was installed were selected on the basis of their low average income levels or the distance to the nearest free-to-use ATM.

Objectives

• To assess the number of customers using the new machines and the frequency of their use

• To identify customers’ attitudes to the machines and to estimate the amount of time and money customers saved as a result of the installation of the machines

• To assess the extent to which the stores with the machine, and the neighbourhood as a whole, were benefiting from the installations.

Methodology

A carefully selected sample of 40 stores was chosen from all those in which a machine had been installed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in store to check levels of use of the machines and to compare the behaviour of customers before and after the installation.

Interviews were conducted on two different days of the week, approximately one week apart. The co-operation of the store manager was obtained to encourage customers visiting the store when an interviewer was not present to fill in a self-completion version of the questionnaire.

Outcome

A report was produced detailing the attitudes of customers to the new ATM machines and the estimated time and money saved by their installation. The report quantified the benefits according to factors such as area of the country, level of deprivation of the region and distance to the nearest free-to-use ATM.

The savings were seen as considerable and generated much favourable publicity for the client when reported in the regional and national press.