Getting Younger:
Serve, Attract and Retain
Millennial Members Workshop

July 19, 2016 | Go Where Meetings Matter, Ann Arbor
July 21, 2016 | Think Space, Lansing

Get to Know Millennials!

• It may be hard to believe, but 71% of Millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to a banker! This is great news for credit unions who are positioned to differentiate their image and mission when reaching out to serve this important demographic group.
• Three-fourths of Millennials are more excited about financial service offerings from Apple, Google and Amazon than from the banks. This is why it is important for credit unions to stop thinking about "banking" in the same old way and instead, think about it from the perspective of younger consumers.
• According to the Brookings Institute, four of the top ten most despised corporate brands belong to big banks! Bank of America, CitiBank, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase have been served notice -- and so have credit unions, who have a tremendous opportunity to serve these same consumers who are thirsty to do business with organizations that share their values.
• Millennials are ten times as likely to use peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders than the average consumer, and companies such as The Lending Club have driven the P2P lending industry to grow to more than $1 billion. They like these solutions because they are fast, easy, transparent and have differentiated themselves as not being huge megabanks. In other words, Millennials like P2P lending for the same reason they should love borrowing from credit unions -- who really were first to be financial cooperatives of "people helping people".
• According to FICO research, Millennial consumers prefer to receive information from their financial institution in the following ways, ranked by popularity: 1) Email, 2) Text, 3) Bank Website and 4) Mobile. Still not all Millennials are the same, which is why it is critical to treat each consumer as an individual.
• Nearly half of Millennials claim they receive too many irrelevant offers from their credit union, yet at the same time, 75% of them say they don’t receive too much information. The lesson? To be most effective and reach this important demographic, credit unions must send personally relevant information to its members.
• While it may be surprising, Millennials prefer mobile websites to mobile apps 2 to 1. FICO reports that 30% of Millennials with smartphones use no banking apps, and 45% of those don’t bank through their phones at all. Why is this important to credit unions? Because it demonstrates why it is even more important to leverage individual consumer insights to best serve members -- particularly the Millennial demographic.  
• Once Millennials have identified "a need" they have to fulfill, they follow a road map in their decision making process by seeking advice, doing research, making inquiries and judging responses. So when choosing a financial services provider, Millennials have already made an investment by the time they open an account and will continue to follow that road map when judging the performance. If they are satisfied and become loyal members, they will become promoters and share their experiences.
• Credit unions can build membership amongst the Millennial demographic by generating organic growth. But creating "promoters" who lead their friends, family and colleagues to the credit union's front door (or online portal), is easier said than done!