While there has been a surge in robo-advisers in the financial market as of late, separate research by both Openwork and the Council of Mortgage Lenders suggests that the majority of consumers would still choose face to face advice for financial planning.
Openwork revealed that 71% of consumers had concerns that a robo-advice service would not be suited to the intricacies of financial advice1*. The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported comparable results, stating that three out of five customers would prefer face to face advice2*.
Although robo advice would be a cheaper alternative to using a financial adviser, consumers still view face to face advice as the safer option because robo-advice cannot be a substitute for human interaction.
After all, a digital platform that uses algorithms to provide advice is not going to be able to assess whether the person being advised understands the information given to them or not. Furthermore, in a world where cybercrime is only ever increasing, can robo-advice used for personal matters such as finance, be fully protected from those attempting to steal their data?
However, interestingly, the study by Openwork also revealed that the younger generations involved in the study were more open to receiving robo-advice for financial matters.
In fact, more than two out of five people under 25 stated that they would be happy to receive robo-advice1*. Despite this, Claire Limon, the director of learning and acquisition for Openwork, stated that largely “consumers are still unsure if it is right for their financial needs and do not feel that it can substitute human interaction”1*.
That is why Bower, a multi-award winning, independent “whole of market” equity release specialist, only offer face to face advice – to ensure our customers get the best possible service and advice that’s right for them.
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1* Source: Openwork, Consumers Still Prefer Face to Face Financial Advice
2* Source: CML Research Digital Change and Mortgage Borrowers
