There is often a link at both the strategic and the operational levels between these strands of activity. Some of the manifestations of the resulting business systems are apparent to the end-consumer. For that reason, the end-consumer forms perceptions related to such business systems. The formation of those perceptions is very directly concerned with the development of institutions’ brands. Changes in consumer opinions and brands, even when they do have their origins in business-to-business markets, are at the core of the value delivered to its clients by Mintel and so form a proper subject for Mintel’s Finance Intelligence series.

Mintel last examined part of this aspect of the financial services scene more than two years ago in Optimising the Power of Call Centres - UK, Finance Intelligence, October 2002. The purpose of the present report is to update the consumer research, briefly recapitulate the present call centre market in financial services and expand the coverage to include the associated offshoring and outsourcing activities. Finally, these strands of enquiry are brought together in an examination of their consequences for financial services brands. The present report is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of outsourcing in financial services as this is a huge and highly technical field. The aim is to provide the strategic marketing manager - on whose shoulders responsibility for the integrity of the brand will inevitably fall - with a framework for understanding developments in these areas and to provide some hard data on related consumer views.