Last updated: 19 September 2014
A recent study we came across showed that American millennials aren’t keen to listen to what their banks have to say.
Nearly three quarters of America’s millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to what their banks have to say and are more interested in hearing from tech firms about financial services.
The article goes on to say that part of the reason for their dissatisfaction and disinterest stems from a feeling that banking services have been commoditized, and technology disruption is going to change the way we interact with money, making banks irrelevant.
Of course, the industry isn’t sitting still whilst this happens, and, when we talk to our customers in the sector there are three main areas of focus.
- Keeping pace with the way people interact. Most people are not interested about banking, but they are passionate about life. People want to be able to interact with money in the way that makes sense to them and when needed. For most people today, this is centered on their smartphone. Having advanced, secure mobile-banking capabilities that allow people to send money, pay bills, withdraw cash or whatever else they need to do in the way they choose will build on the value consumers place on them.
- Developing the basis for trust. With the banking closures that were symptomatic of the financial crisis of 2008, reassuring customers that their money is safe, their details are secure and won’t be at risk of some of the high profile hacks we’ve seen reported is vital.
- Enhancing the customer experience. Every day a new ‘disruptive’ service will pop up offering greater convenience, or a snappier way of doing one or another thing. All of these services will lack the infrastructure, reliability and scale banks can offer – so if banks can match them for innovation, they stand a good chance of winning back some customer sentiment.
Building a framework in which these things can happen is vital; this means keeping tabs on what customers want, what they don’t want, and ensuring that banks can flex to meet those requirements as quickly as possible. In the past, consumers have been reluctant to ‘vote with their feet’ and switch provider, but a new generation of impatient millennials are coming of age who may well act differently.
This Fall we’re talking to a number of millennials on Facebook around the world to find out their attitudes around e- and m-banking and their financial services providers. We’ll be blogging the findings; if you have any questions you think we should put to them, let us know in the comments.
