Despite the average of Singaporean holding many financial products, only a few of these are with their main financial institution (MFI).

According to a report by the independent business analyst Datamonitor, this provides a great growth opportunity for retail banks to derive revenue from customers through product bundling offers and incentives that will create a win-win situation for financial service providers and consumers.

“An average Singaporean holds a huge number of financial products, especially on credit cards. Indeed, 80% of customers have at least one credit card and 42% of them hold three or more” comments Harry Senlitonga, senior analyst at Datamonitor.

Consumer demands and many attractive offers from card providers, such as credit card exclusive discount offers have caused diverse credit card product holding in Singapore. As its name suggests, exclusive discount offers provide cardholders with exclusive accesses to product or service discounts on specific retail outlets.

“Credit card exclusive discounts offers have been proven as an effective acquisition method with the side effect that many Singaporeans now have more cards in their wallet than before. As a result, the main financial institutions of these customers are missing out on the potential to increase revenue per customer” says Harry based in Sydney.

Financial institutions should therefore revisit their approach to consumers. Indeed, Datamonitor believes that product bundling offers, which have been successful in many other countries, will help strengthen MFI relationships with customers.

“A low product holding within the MFI shows cross-selling still offers plenty of growth opportunities for Singaporean financial providers. Incentive schemes aiming to encourage multiple product uptakes within the same institution may create a win-win scenario for both financial service providers and consumers” concludes Harry.