If there’s one person with experience in marketing financial services to expats, it’s Guy Stephenson, Director at Nacelle. Having targeted expatriates since 1988, he has worked with many of the big expat brands in the market.
In an interview with Expat Marketing, Guy explains why more than 50% of British expat banks have disappeared in the last decade, and how this consolidation has opened business opportunities for new products and services.
Expats come in all shapes and sizes, but surveys have shown a few characteristics stand out. For a long time, expats have tended to be better educated and wealthier than other target groups. However, recent data suggests that there is also a shift of wealth – away from traditional expat markets towards emerging markets.
Indeed, HSBC’s 2010 Expat Explorer Survey found growing markets for luxury goods in emerging economies such as South Africa and the UAE. According to the HSBC data, 61% of expats reported they were saving more than in their home country, though interestingly another 43% said they were also spending more and 38% that they were investing more.