MARKET RESEARCH FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES

Partnering with Financial Services Leaders to Deliver Great Research Results

For more than 30 years, Schmidt Market Research has helped financial providers navigate an increasingly complex landscape. From digital transformation and new product development to high-touch client experience in wealth and commercial banking, we’ve built long-term partnerships with some of the industry’s leading brands by conquering the steep learning curve of financial services.

Across retail, small business, commercial, corporate, and wealth management, we understand that every relationship, process, and interaction has implications for growth, loyalty, and profitability. Our team blends deep industry expertise with rigorous research design and advanced analytics and data science to deliver insights that lead to action.

Segments we serve:

We help retail banks design, refine, and optimize products, experiences, and communications that build stronger customer relationships in an increasingly digital world.

Topics we help you address:

  • Concept testing and product launch assessments for loans, cards, and financial tools
  • Loan runoff and attrition analysis to understand why customers leave
  • Debit and credit card feature optimization
  • Monitoring brand health and assessing the impact of marketing spend
  • Understanding channel behaviors and branch-to-digital migration
  • Evaluating new branch concepts and identifying pain points in online and mobile banking

Small business clients expect more than a bank – they expect a partner. We design research that helps you understand their needs and deliver experiences that earn loyalty.

Topics we help you address:

  • Online platform and digital experience optimization for business clients
  • Merchant services usage and satisfaction
  • Business credit card feature optimization and financial wellness tools
  • Tracking NPS, satisfaction, and loyalty among business owners
  • Assessing branch service model effectiveness and the impact of banker turnover
  • Onboarding of new products and processes for handling service requests

We support commercial and institutional teams in building profitable, long-term relationships and refining complex product sets – especially in treasury management.

Topics we help you address:

  • Brand awareness and perception in growth markets
  • Thought-leadership research among middle-market and large corporate clients
  • Needs assessment for treasury management, DCM, FX, international payables, and liquidity solutions
  • Relationship performance tracking across commercial, corporate, and treasury clients
  • Assessing RM and TMO effectiveness
  • Identifying process and pain points in credit applications, syndicated loan onboarding, and TM implementations

We have developed a specialized focus in treasury management, including proposal and sales engagement assessments, onboarding and implementation “moments of truth,” and bank-team relationship assessments to support cross-sell and revenue growth.

We work across Mass Affluent, High Net Worth, Ultra High Net Worth, Family Office, and institutional relationships to understand needs, expectations, and experiences.

Topics we help you address:

  • Needs of target segments: HNW women, Next Gen, business owners, COIs, and family stakeholders
  • Wealth planning and transfer, including family education and multi-generational engagement
  • Portfolio review and advisor engagement assessment
  • Adoption of online tools and digital platforms for wealth clients
  • Satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy across wealth tiers
  • Evaluating communications and content strategies to strengthen trust and engagement

Examples of our work:

  • Tracking relationship performance among retail, small business, commercial, and wealth clients
  • Measuring emotional connection to banking providers and linking to business outcomes
  • NPS and competitive benchmarking across key segments
  • Evaluating critical “moments of truth” such as onboarding, RM transitions, and problem resolution

  • Online and mobile platforms for consumers, businesses, and wealth/investment clients
  • Commercial products such as treasury management, liquidity portals, trade finance, and commercial cards
  • Consumer banking products: checking, savings, loans, credit cards, and self-help financial tools
  • Concept evaluation and feature optimization for new and existing products

  • Value proposition development and refinement for priority segments
  • Brand awareness and perception studies in core and growth markets
  • Marketing and thought leadership content testing
  • Brand health tracking and assessment of marketing impact
  • Competitive assessments to inform positioning and go-to-market strategies

  • New product onboarding and implementation for commercial and treasury clients
  • Mapping and improving credit and loan-approval processes
  • Assessing reliability and usability of digital and online platforms
  • Win/loss assessments and attrition analyses to understand why clients stay, switch, or scale back

Why Schmidt for Financial Services?

At Schmidt, research is built for decision-making.

We build every study on a clear analytical framework, translate findings into usable guidance for your team, and collaborate closely to ensure recommendations are both realistic and actionable.

Beyond delivering insights, we help bring stakeholders together, so organizations align quickly and move forward with confidence.

Michael Everhart Vice President | Schmidt Market Research

Contact our Financial Services Practice Leader to learn more:

Michael Everhart
Financial Services Practice Leader
meverhart@schmidtmr.com

Or submit a request for more information.