More than two fifths (42 per cent) of people earning under £100,000 have said they do not find it ‘easy’ to interact with their provider, compared to only 15 per cent of those earning £100,000 or more, research from Moneyhub has found.

The research from Moneyhub highlighted a "significant" disparity in guidance and advice between consumers falling in different income brackets.

This was further reflected by 40 per cent of high earners strongly agreeing that their provider offered a personalised service, compared to an average of 13 per cent of those earning under £10,000.

Furthermore, the research also showed that a quarter (25 per cent) of people believed that a lack of guidance is holding them back from making more effective financial decisions.

It also found that consumers want providers to make communications simple, with almost a third (27 per cent) of consumers wanting a provider that ‘talks to them in a language they understand’.

Alongside this, the research found that people desired better support, with 24 per cent of people feeling that their investment and pension providers fail to provide good quality support and after-sales care.

Technology was also a key consideration for consumers, as a quarter (25 per cent) said that not having an app was one of the most difficult things about interacting with their provider.

Additionally, over a fifth (21 per cent) of consumers said that the access to a flexible technological top-up, based around their spare earnings each month, would encourage them to make more pension contributions and investments.

Moneyhub also found that 16 per cent believe they would benefit from easy to access projections on what their current savings could be worth in the future.

Commenting on this, Moneyhub Personal Finance Technology managing director, Mark Horwood-James, said: “Through the advance of technology, good financial guidance does not have to be exclusive to those who are wealthy enough to pay for the privilege. 

“The opportunity is clear for financial service providers: empower customers to make better financial decisions and, in the process, improve their financial wellbeing and ability to save or invest.

“The race is on to deliver the best solutions and experiences that benefit all customers.”

Moneyhub non-executive director, Margaret Snowdon, added: “The adoption of new technologies, especially in the form of Open Finance and Open Banking solutions, performs two important actions at once for pensions and investment providers.

“On the one hand it is the only way to face up and respond to the new FCA Consumer Duty demands - the key elements of the relationship between the provider and consumer can all be addressed through the simple adoption of already available technologies.

“On the other hand, the technologies improve the customer’s chances of making the correct financial decisions at the right time, thus bettering outcomes for themselves and their provider.”

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