Credit Unions: The anti-firefly?
by. Ron Shevlin
Here are some things I’ve learned from recent consumer research I’ve conducted (nothing earth-shattering, but at least there’s data to back up the assertions):
- Gen Yers have an impulse purchase problem. Six in 10 “young Gen Yers” (21-26 yo), and have of”old Gen Yers” (27-34 yo) say they don’t save more money than they do because they make too many impulse purchases. Just a quarter of Boomers say impulse purchases are a problem. It’s not inherent to members of the generation–it’s something that all young people go through. Boomers had that problem when we in our 20s. We grew out of it, fingers crossed, Gen Yers will, too.
- Gen Yers want help managing their financial lives. My own data shows that Gen Yers are more engaged in the management of their financial lives, and more likely than older consumers to turn to their banks and credit unions for guidance and assistance in managing their financial lives. To further hammer you over the head with this point, I’ll also cite Novantas’ research (included in a Financial Brand article from Rob Rubin) which showed that “nearly half of all Gen Y consumers looking to switch banks want their next institution to offer online PFM tools.”
- Consumers think that banks and credit unions can do a better job of providing mobile shopping capabilities than providers like Apple and Google. When asked who would do a good job of providing mobile shopping capabilities, consumers (not too surprisingly) thought their bank or credit union would do a better job on data security and privacy than Amazon, Apple, or Google. They thought Amazon would do the best job of providing relevant offers and providing the best advice, but still thought FIs would do a better job than Apple or Google.