A Terragni Insight Series Initiative The Great Awakening हमारा Financial friction score 2026 In search of consumer ease © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation “Clarity beats speed, Confidence trumps features and Empowerment outranks efficiency.” “Dark patterns may create short term revenue, but destroy reputation.” “Access is a solved problem, empowerment isn’t.” “Creating customer friction is a slow march to irrelevancy.”
India is rising. Markets are growing. Infrastructure is humming. But below the charts and dashboards, there's a silent tax nobody tracks: emotional friction. We saw it in Priya. 29. Software engineer. Bangalore. Trying to upgrade her parents' life. ₹12 lakhs to change everything; insurance, a renovation, a safety net. What she expected: a simple Saturday. What she got: dense jargon, endless forms, vanishing updates, and deafening silence. Multiply that by millions. That’s our real financial services crisis. Not infrastructure. Not access. Confidence. Clarity. Control. Missing. At Terragni, we seek to measure what matters: how effortful financial engagement feels— and what that friction is costing India © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation 9:00 AM. Saturday. Priya logs in. She’s done the math. She knows the product types. All she needs is clarity. Upgrade her parents’ health cover Secure a personal loan Redeem a small part of her mutual fund By lunch, she expects a roadmap. What she hits instead: fog, fragmentation, and fatigue.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation She starts small: health insurance. A warm-up. Instead, 45 minutes in, she’s still stuck between “room rent capping” and “co-payment clauses.” IVR loops. Websites dodge. No human explains. "I just want to know what’s best for my diabetic father. Why is that so hard?" One policy. One hour. Still no clarity.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Her bank calls her a "preferred customer." Her account greets her by name. She breathes again. Then the illusion crumbles: 47-field form Asterisked interest rates No real-time status No leverage from her long-standing relationship "We’re processing your request." No timeline. No ETA. Just a digital void.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Last attempt. Just ₹2 lakhs from her own portfolio. What she sees: current value. What she doesn’t: exit loads, redemption timelines, or clarity. She clicks "Redeem." Gets a cold: "Your request is being processed." "Changing nominees or withdrawing funds shouldn’t take this long. Just show me what’s pending."
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Financial services isn’t just a sector. It’s the engine of aspiration. Access is solved. Apps work. Forms submit. Branch visits are history. What remains is worse: doubt, opacity, manipulation. When friction kills confidence, we lose more than customers: We lose entrepreneurs. We lose investors. We lose progress. Cognitive friction is the new poverty.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation We digitised everything. Except confidence. Today’s Reality Emotional Role Enabler Credit Investment Insurance Courage to Dream Buried in red tape Mired in confusion Wisdom to Grow Freedom to Risk Crushed by opacity
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Friction Type What it Blocks Status Physical & Temporal Access Solved Cognitive Failing Ability Critically Broken Aspiration Perceived A growth collapse waiting to happen. This is not a UX or a technology design issue.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation This isn’t accidental friction. It’s embedded friction. Strategic sludge. "Dark patterns aren’t bugs in your UI. They’re features in your business model." Tactics that damage trust: Hidden Info: Key charges in fine print Complexity: Overload by design Asymmetry: Take-it-or-leave-it coercion
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Personal Loans: Bundled insurance without consent RBI warns against deceptive dark patterns Life Insurance: Policy churning for agent commissions 43.3% of benefits linked to surrendered/discontinued plans 70% loss in second-year surrenders Mutual Funds: Funds idle post-NFO Customers believe they’re invested Control gap erodes trust Health Insurance: Claims rejected for absurdities 69% face rejections or partial approvals IRDAI goal: "Insurance for All by 2047"—already at risk
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation The Effort Scale Health Insurance (11.9) Great backend performance, but frontend fear kills referrals Personal Loans (12) 93–98% need multiple interactions Approval in Singapore: same day India: 7–12 days, no visibility Life Insurance (11.95) First sector to hit cognitive neutrality Now prove it can scale Mutual Funds (11.6) Top score in rankings But 94% still face redemption delays Confidence score: rock bottom
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Phase 1: Quick Wins Months 1-6 Strategy: Create transparency without overhauling systems Key Initiatives: Real-time tracking with milestone notifications Clear timeline estimates at each stage Educational nudges explaining processes Status dashboards showing request progress Self-service tools with instant feedback Phase 2: Cognitive Load Elimination Months 7-18 Key Initiatives: Predictive communication before customers ask Real-time progress bars with context Self-service status and timeline estimation Plain language explanations API-first architecture and ML recommendations Single-click modifications Automated routine transactions Strategy: Eliminate the mental burden of uncertainty Phase 3: Psychological Leadership Months 19+ Key Initiatives: •Zero uncertainty experiences •AI-powered contextual recommendations •Ecosystem integration for seamless journeys •Voice-activated transactions •Predictive analytics for needs anticipation •Automated portfolio rebalancing •AR/VR education modules •Gamified learning experiences Strategy: Predictive transparency- customers know before it happens Outcome: You don’t just reduce effort. You restore confidence.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation But Who gives understanding? Who designs for certainty? Who creates confidence? "Confidence is the new competitive advantage." Everyone has an app. Everyone has speed.
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation The CEO Call to Action
You have 12–18 months. Not to digitise. That’s done. But to humanise. To lead the shift from access to ability and aspiration. What’s at stake: 430+ million Indians still uninsured 25–35% higher lifetime value for trust-first brands A ₹75 trillion mutual fund industry that customers don’t understand You’re not just losing customers. You’re constraining national potential. © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation
© Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation Who Will Own “Happily Easy"?
Two futures stand before you: Extractive friction: Complex journeys Silent drop-offs Regulatory scrutiny OR Empowerment-first: Clarity, confidence, control Market differentiation Emotional loyalty The winner won’t be the fastest. Or the cheapest. It’ll be the one customers trust without thinking. Crack perceived ease, and you don’t just win. You change the country. © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation
References ¹ ValuePenguin Analysis of CMS Marketplace Data (2023): UnitedHealthcare denial rates ² UK Parliament Library: NHS complaints procedure and ombudsman system (2024) ³ IRDAI Annual Report 2023-24: Health insurance claim rejections ⁴ Business Standard: Insurance ombudsman complaints disposal statistics (2023) ⁵ DBS and UOB Singapore: Personal loan instant approval services (2024) ⁶ Saral Credit & Tata Capital: Personal loan processing timelines in India (2024) ⁷ RBI Ombudsman Report 2023-24: Banking complaints statistics ⁸ Swiss Re Institute: Global life insurance premium growth forecasts (2024) ⁹ Statista: Global mutual fund assets analysis (2024) ¹⁰ AMFI India: Mutual fund AUM statistics (July 2025) ¹¹ KFF Analysis: Claims denials and appeals in ACA marketplace plans (2024) ¹³ IRDAI Annual Report 2023-24: Health insurance claim settlement statistics (89% by count, 85.66% settlement ratio) ¹⁴ IRDAI Annual Report 2023-24: Insurance penetration declining to 3.7% (from 4.2% peak) ¹⁵ National Insurance Academy Report: 31% of India's population lacks health insurance ¹⁶ IRDAI Vision 2047: "Insurance for all by 2047" initiative If the summary is so full of insight and action, imagine what the full report would look like! Request your copy of the full report. Write to us at- dipti@terragni.co | engage@terragni.co Let’s make financial empowerment more than a promise. Let’s make it real. © Terragni consulting (P) ltd Private and confidential not to be circulated without prior authorisation
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