First thing’s first, about 67 million Zoomers make up 20% of the U.S. population, and 64% of Zoomers look for a more personalized banking experience. With so many Zoomers entering the financial sector, it is important to understand what banks, credit unions, and community banks can do to entice Zoomers to choose them. From increasing technological services to making their products and services fast and efficient, financial institutions can do so much to attract their younger audience.
Credit unions tend to be community-oriented and offer lower rates, which are qualities that particularly resonate with Zoomers. However, to attract the Gen Z population, credit unions will have to make many technological advancements. As mentioned in the previous blogs, Gen Z values speed and efficiency. With P2P companies on the rise, e.g., Cashapp and Zelle, Gen Z wants to see more digital payment services due to it being one of the fastest-growing methods of payment. If this falls short in any way, Gen Z will gladly turn to anything that provides them with a quick and high-quality solution.
Offer Financial Education and Benefits
Small things such as reward schemes and benefits will appeal to Zoomers. They would more preferably seek a financial institution that can expedite and improve their experience. As previously mentioned, Gen Z is interested in learning about financial education. Making their learning process easy can help them become more financially self-sufficient and conscious. Including informative ways Zoomers can have a more reliable financial experience, such as personalized budgeting advice or money management tips, will help them explore their options. Making the financial learning curve easier by using integrated systems will allow them to become more financially independent and aware. In turn, this will improve the experiences of such services.
Increase Utilization of Digital Payments
If they had the opportunity, about 75% of Zoomers said they would utilize mobile payments more regularly. This involves having easy-to-access, high-quality payment experiences on their smartphones. Only less than a third of Zoomers stated that they were comfortable providing personal information online, while 18% say they are comfortable providing their financial information. Zoomers are also concerned about social and environmental issues, with 90% believing that the companies with which they partner should contribute to these causes. 75% of the 90% will check to see if the corporation follows through on its promises.
Have a Strong Social Media Presence
Gen Z, being the most tech-savvy generation, relies on their computers and smartphones for many things. Self-service products and services allow them to access things faster and help make their experiences better. Almost everyone who is a Zoomer has some sort of social media presence. As a result, having a strong social media presence is critical for financial institutions. Not only will they be able to reach more consumers overall, but most importantly also be able to target Zoomers specifically. An important aspect of social media is that even financial institutions can leverage topics that are trending with Zoomers. Financial institutions, for example, still utilize a big number of paper checks; in response, they can tweet ways in which digital payments are environmentally friendly. With just this, they accomplish two things: attract more Zoomers and spread the word about digital payments.
Algorithms and Hyper-personalized Experiences
Using algorithms to see what their customers access most will help them understand how to better serve their audience. These hyper-personalized experiences will go a long way in attracting more Zoomers to become devoted customers or members of financial institutions. Benefits such as cost waivers or even free accounts such as Spotify, Hulu, or Netflix subscriptions are other ways businesses might appeal to a younger audience.
About two-thirds of Zoomers are worried about building credit, and that same amount is also eligible for bank accounts. Attracting Zoomers requires value-driven programming and technological advances. Zoomers always have another alternative if this isn’t done correctly. The younger generation, in search of a quick fix, will always resort to those institutions that provide it.
