Filling the Generational Banking Market Gap: Solutions that Meet Banking Preferences of All Ages
Foster Institutional Loyalty and Boost Revenue by Focusing on Generational Needs
It’s no secret that each generation – Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z - has different banking behaviors and preferences. To provide the best services and offerings to a variety of customers and members, banks and credit unions must consider each generation's banking style in combination with their own institutional goals. By leveraging data-driven insights and analytics like financial profiles, user journeys, and more, institutions can deliver personalized experiences that lead to increased engagement, campaign conversions, and ultimately institutional loyalty. If not, the bottom line remains the same regardless of the age demographic: risk lack of relevancy with account holders and ultimately, attrition.
Appeal to Baby Boomers by Tailoring your Digital Experience to Their Needs
Born: 1955 – 1964 | Age: 57-66 | US Population in 2021: 69 million
A recent survey by Zelle found a staggering 82% of those ages 55+ are banking online more frequently – with 55% turning to mobile banking channels. While most Baby Boomers haven’t fully adopted mobile and digital banking platforms, financial institutions should accommodate their needs for asset management, fraud prevention, and superior customer service to deliver the same warm, intimate familiarity they’d receive in-branch.
Offering complimentary services like personal financial management (PFM) tools, along with digital access to financial documents and e-statements, helps this market segment take charge of their financial health and make better financial choices - while keeping them in-solution and driving engagement. Reducing fraud vulnerabilities is important too, including helping them transact with confidence with enterprise-grade security features that protect, but don’t hinder the UX.
Offer Digital Options That Support Gen X’s Busy Lifestyle, Reduce Debt, and Plan for Retirement
Born: 1965-1980 | Age: 41-56 | US Population in 2021: 65 million
Many Gen X-ers are trying to balance supporting or raising a family, paying off student debt, caring for their aged parents, and planning for retirement at the same time. These demands put a high strain on their resources, causing Gen X to carry the highest amount of debt, including their mortgage. Gen X-ers are said to respond well to digital banking solutions that ease their stress or simplify their daily lives, such as RDC, and planning tools for reducing debt and building a stable savings plan.
Offering solutions with seamless, frictionless experiences that power meaningful user engagements by delivering all-things digital, online, and mobile in a single and centralized location positions your bank or credit union as a trusted ally in the Gen X account holder’s financial narrative.
Create an Innovative Digital Strategy to Appeal to Millennials
Born: 1981 – 1996 | Age: 25-40 | US Population in 2021: 72 million
Millennials have been immersed in technology for most of their lives, so they have high expectations for digital banking tools. Self-service is paramount, enabling them to bank on their terms, boosting their confidence, and keeping them coming back for new services. It’s been shown that millennials also rely on apps for everyday tasks like person-to-person (P2P) money transfers, transfers between accounts, and to review transaction history. However, millennials’ preferences for mobile banking can fluctuate if it doesn't meet their expectations, emphasizing the need for a seamless and intuitive user journey - nearly 40% abandoned mobile banking activities when they took too long, according to The Balance.
Don’t allow digital-only players to jeopardize your established relationships with millennials. Millennials want fast, convenient, digital features that go beyond digital banking, such as automated and digital lending, that are cutting edge and innovative, and that weave into a larger digital banking strategy. This complete digital ecosystem, combined with financial education, and a balance of both human and digital touch-points, such as chatbots and other personalized services, drive institutional loyalty.
Deliver Cutting-Edge Digital Banking Solutions and Creative Payment Solutions
Born: 1997 – 2012 | Age: 9-24 | US Population in 2021: 67 million
As Gen Z approaches college and adulthood, FI's have a huge opportunity to cultivate long-term loyalty. These account holders grew up with high-speed internet, social media, and the availability of nearly all modern conveniences at the touch of a button on their smartphones. More likely to use digital payments, more than half of Gen Z-ers already use digital wallets, and even more use other digital payment apps or P2P apps like Venmo and Zelle, according to a Business Insider Gen Z Report. This presents an urgent need for consistency across all channels, along with intuitive, context-aware screens and a unified platform that ensures the identical features and UX are available on all devices.
Gen Z-ers are also open to nontraditional banking, giving FIs a chance to offer modern payment and digital banking solutions with cutting-edge capabilities. Technologies powered by AI and machine learning can put banks and credit unions at the forefront.
Self-service tablets, electronic booking agents, and chatbots are just a few of the enhanced offerings used to attract the newest group of consumers to a branch. Delivering a smooth and reliable UX is more important than ever for this market segment, as many solely interact via screens and therefore, are among the most sensitive to question usability or lack thereof.
Digital banking is becoming the default for customers around the world, regardless of their age demographic. Financial institutions must develop digital banking strategies that appeal to account holders across generations - Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Utilizing big data, user behavior information, and other insights to drive personalized experiences across all touch-points puts your institution ahead by showing your understanding of your target markets and their needs.
Read more about generational banking trends here.
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