Industry Insights: Banking Beyond Millennials

Millennials, aka Generation Y, have been getting all the attention lately. They just became the largest group of working adults, and are therefore coveted because they need financial services of every kind. Their preference for innovative technologies from their banking providers dominates our technology planning scenarios.

But enough about Gen Y already! What about the two next oldest generations—Generation X and the Boomers—which still dominate most demographic sectors? What about their banking preferences and habits? Easy as it is for banks and credit unions to focus on the up-and-coming, let’s not lose sight of the here-and-now.

In fact, there’s more than anecdotal evidence showing that focusing too much on millennials can limit the growth potential of innovative products. Gen Xers, boomers and older consumers enjoy the convenience of online and mobile banking and many are technology enthusiasts.

We’ve collected a few articles to help you better understand the financial and technological needs of consumers belonging to these pre-millennial generations.

• Baby Boomers and Gen Xers and the “T” Word, BankNews. The last Baby Boomer won’t turn 65 until 2029, which means they can benefit from 12 more years of technological innovation in the financial services industry. This article looks at automation and technology predictions for the next 20 years, through the lens of these two generations.
   
• Why Community Banks Can’t Afford To ‘Wait and See’ About Faster Payment Innovations, PYMNTS.com. Millennials aren’t the only ones using digital banking. According to FIS’s most recent Performance Against Consumer Expectations (PACE) report, boomers make an average 9.1 digital bank interactions per month. Take a look at the importance of technology innovation for all consumer groups.
   
• Millennials are the future, but CUs shouldn’t write off baby boomers, Credit Union Journal. Despite millennials outnumbering them, boomers control 70% of the nation’s disposable income, and 40-70% of all boomers regularly use a mobile banking app. This makes them a continuing target for financial products and services innovation.
   
• Banks and Credit Unions Must Think Beyond Millennials, Financial Brand. This article argues that banks and credit unions should not forget about the over-50 crowd. Check out some recent research from AARP and Pew Research about the best ways to serve this mature population.

For more information on the Baby Boomer generation and their digital banking habits, read the article, “Older Generations Use Digital Banking Too.”