Call Center Spending by Western European Banks and Insurers to Reach $3.2 Billion by 2007, Says IDC

19 Dec 2003


MILAN, December 19, 2003 — Western European banks and insurers will invest a combined $3.2 billion in call center solutions by the end of 2007. According to a new study by IDC's European Vertical Markets group, banks will invest $2.8 billion and insurance companies will invest $351 million, resulting in a 2002–2007 CAGR of 6% and 3.9%, respectively.

The increase in financial companies' IT investments reflects ongoing growth in the call center market, with major initiatives aimed at enhancing customer relationships in the channel and lowering distribution costs. "IT players offer a wide range of solutions for call center operations and their strategies are increasingly aggressive," said Mirko Corbetta, research analyst for IDC's Financial Services group.

The study reveals that:

The call center is the third most used channel in the European financial services market and will emerge as a strategic channel as it has shown it can support a range of business processes, including marketing, customer support, and sales.
IT solutions to integrate data and workflows across channels will be a priority over the next three years because the level of integration among distribution channels is still limited.
Performance management solutions are increasingly critical as financial companies need to evaluate the real value-add that call centers offer compared to other channels.
Outsourcing is increasingly used to drive down costs. This, however, requires strong integration with the entire organization to maintain a high level of service for customers and to offer them multichannel access. This is particularly true for U.K. banks, which are increasingly leveraging offshore outsourcing to cut call center costs.
It would be a mistake for companies in the increasingly competitive financial industry to underestimate the importance of call centers, even though some companies still do not consider them a strategic part of their distribution strategy.

Source:IDC - Press Release