PFFP 476 Retail Financial Services

This course provides an introduction to the retail financial services industry. The primary focus will be on firms and markets that provide retail credit (e.g., consumer loans, auto loans, credit cards, mortgages) and other banking services, with some occasional examples from the insurance and investment/retirement products sectors. The early weeks will cover determinants of consumer demand and market supply, trends in new product development, new account acquisition strategies, target-market supply, trends in new product development, new account acquisition strategies, target-marketing tools and cross-selling. The second half of the course will focus on public policy issues related to improving consumer access to credit and banking services. The focus will be on regulatory constraints, reputation risk, and ethical challenges that profoundly affect marketing in the financial services industry.