Should You Go Direct?

Consumers of financial services products are increasingly shunning distributors and agents. While going direct can be cost effective, Malini Bhupta and Preeti Kulkarni highlight some of the challenges that come with this behaviour

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The financial services business is witnessing a silent, but decisive shift, in consumer behaviour. Thanks to the rapid rollout of high-speed mobile broadband services over the last two years, Indians are increasingly looking at investing and buying financial products directly from companies or through other digital channels. Disintermediation is a reality that is playing out in India as well, with the Millennials preferring to transact without the involvement of distributors or agents. Be it mutual funds or insurance, Indians are now expressing a desire to cut out the physical intermediaries because of an inherent belief that distributors tend to have a commission bias, which is why they only push products that help them earn more.