We are conducting various pieces of consumer research to support the campaign to raise awareness of building societies and credit unions, and of the difference they bring compared to other providers.

Topics to date include:

• Consumer awareness of building societies and credit unions
• Consumer attitudes towards traditional passbooks and alternatives
• Mutuality and social attitudes

Building society and credit union awareness

Slides (November 2024 survey)

• Building society is a much better understood term than mutual. We should stop referring to the sector as mutuals with consumers.
• Those who think customer-owned financial service providers are important are also more active in their community and have more close friends.
• A lot of the positive differentiation of building societies, including trustworthiness, comes from older age groups. Younger age groups see less difference.

We will track some of these measures to see how familiarity with the sector is changing over time with different groups.

BSA Passbook Research

At the end of 2024, the BSA commissioned consumer research firm Vypr to investigate customer attitudes towards traditional passbooks and some of the alternative communication tools available, from Contactless Passbooks and Cards to Plastic Wallets and Mobile Apps.

The research highlighted:

• The continued importance of traditional passbooks when engaging with their building society. Some 8% of all customers wanted to continue to use passbooks (rising to 10% of customers +55 years of age)
• Switching from traditional passbooks may not have a significant negative impact if managed carefully, and the risk of customer switching appears low. The key is to ensure new solutions maintain the core benefits of passbooks (easy balance checking, transaction recording, branch access) while offering enhanced features and convenience.
• A clear generational and technological divide in attitudes toward passbook replacement. Younger and tech-savvy customers generally welcoming the change while older customers and those less comfortable with technology expressing more concerns.

The full report and webinar recording from Vypr on the research can be found here.

Mutuality and social attitudes

How does mutuality relate to people's values? This research sets to map this out, based on groups with distinct social beliefs and values.

The research explores how shifts in social attitudes influence the relevance and sustainability of mutual organisations, distinguishing between three broad groups:

• Settlers (traditional, stability-focused)
• Prospectors (individualistic, function-driven), and
• Pioneers (ethically driven, values-based) . 

The growing Pioneer segment presents an opportunity for resurgence of mutuals through authentic, purpose-driven branding. Organisations should align with evolving values, as Pioneers drive long-term innovation and influence consumer trends beyond their immediate demographic.

Download the full report here