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The younger generation is totally at home with mobile applications and online interactions. Many millennials complete almost all of their daily tasks, from buying clothes to banking, on their phone. Companies everywhere have had to adjust in recent years to an increasing requirement to provide online solutions to their customers.
For tech-loving millennials, banking products have not kept pace with the requirements of online life. Banking tends to be a conservative industry, which has led to a lag in some of the technical outreach that has been offered by this sector of business as a whole.
The banking industry has a bit of catching up to do if it wants to make its products and services readily accessible to tech-savvy customers. If you are curious about the banking products that tech-loving millennials want and need, read on!
Banking regulations and other impediments that used to hold banks back from offering a robust online experience to their customers have largely been resolved and improved in recent years. This has opened up the opportunity for many banks to finally expand into this necessary space and get connected with their younger members.
1. Develop an App
This is a really good use of development funding, as apps are the way that many people, not just millennials, interface with businesses these days. Apps can accomplish many functions, and you can offer almost all of the services that your company provides at a brick-and-mortar location through the right app.
Apps need to offer convenience, security and be easy to navigate. While not all banking processes can be handled through an app, a large portion of the interactions that people have with their bank can be handled in this manner.
Loan applications, new membership and account opening, and simple payments and transfers are all possible through the right app. Your app might also offer up additional features like payments to other members, or the chance to chat online with customer support instead of having to place a call to a 1-800 number.
Developing a good app is a great way to reach out to younger customers and members and to make them want to stay loyal to your bank or your business.
2. Information and Added Value Access
Millennials are facing great financial burdens that other generations did not have to grapple with. Soaring housing costs, outrageously expensive student loans, and a whole mountain of other challenges are part of their daily lives.
For many of them, the school system or family education did not prepare them to be able to save and manage their money. They find themselves in positions where they are unable to successfully handle all of this debt and financial struggle.
Banking apps and websites need to fill this gap by offering up tutorials and other resources to help millennials to get their finances in order for the long haul. Consumers who feel that they get additional value from their bank will be much more likely to stay with that bank for many years when compared to banking entities who only seem to want to service their accounts.
3. Transfers of Cash to Non-Members
While it might seem like an obvious requirement, banking regulations have made this process difficult until recent developments in the app and website world. Being able to transfer money from your bank account to a friend’s account at another institution is a huge benefit that should be offered by all banks to their younger members.
In today’s fast-paced world, many people pay their rent and utility bills through Venmo or other quick cash transfer apps. These services should be offered by all banks as well because the security and quality of the transactions will always be better when handled between banks rather than through a third-party app.
Cash transfers that are not a hassle are a huge added plus for any bank that wants to attract and keep loyal millennial members. Many people would rather do this process through their bank, but the option is currently not available in many instances.
4. Retirement Planning
Believe it or not, millennials are aware that they need to be saving for retirement. They are faced with student loans and other impediments to this process, but they are aware of the need to create a bank of money to live off of in their later years.
The trouble with retirement planning is that most of it has always been done face-to-face. This is not practical for the digital reality that we live in today, and banks that want to attract and keep younger members need to offer online tools or even a unique app that can handle this part of their millennial members’ needs.
Planning for the future can be done long-distance and making sure that you have the right applications and products readily available to younger members is crucial. There has never been a better time to make your new application cover these bases, or to develop a convenient tool that can be used online to get these members on track to save for their future.
Banking is Poised and Ready for a Big Change
The rise of the remote-living reality that has been in place since 2020 has shown us that we are capable of developing more inclusive and easier-to-use access to businesses through apps and websites. There is no longer any excuse for pretending that these things cannot be accomplished.
If you work in the banking industry or are a millennial shopping for the right bank, remember that there is going to be a whole host of changes in the coming year to the ways in which banks reach out to customers.
It is far past time for this industry to catch up with the times, and as new apps and tools are created and put to use, investing, saving, and taking care of daily banking needs will only get easier.
Tech-savvy millennials know what the future is all about and banking products are finally being forced to catch up with their needs.