Currently, over half of all loans in Irish credit unions are to members who were under 35 when they originally joined their credit union, back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
They are now targeting the millennials, the new generation of Irish consumers born in the 90s, who grew-up with the internet, connectivity and instantaneous responses to their needs. This generation will represent over 75pc of the Irish workforce by 2025 and are those seeking personal loans for cars, holidays and home improvements.
Just 27% of the nearly 79.5 million Millennials in the US are credit union members, in contrast to nearly half of adults over the age of 36. When asked why they aren’t members, many Millennials admitted to not knowing much about credit unions. Considering older generations probably didn’t know much about credit unions when they were younger, and adoption rates are higher for those older consumers, you might conclude that low membership rates among Millennials will fix itself over time. You’re probably right. If you (and your credit union) are willing to wait that long for that to happen, no need to read the new report. Your call.**
88% of Millenials do their banking online, and 73% are more likely to be excited about a new offering in financial services from Google, Amazon, Apple, Paypal or Square than a traditional financial institution.***
Credit Unions need to figure out how to engage and attract this lucrative demographic. This is the first generation that has had access to everything at the touch of a button and with that patience for products and services has grown thin and you can either get services online or get them to your door with very little effort.
“The most innovative credit unions are growing assets and loans three times as fast as the median performers, according to the Shastic index which evaluates credit unions’ user satisfaction by looking at iTunes ratings and Facebook FB -0.04% metrics. New emerging stars are doing it right, and obviously because they are growing fast. Millennials put more value on convenience and immediate service and those can only be achieved faster and better with technological innovation.” ****
So what can Credit Unions do in order to capture this demographic?
- Educate: Target these individuals at key stages of their lives, when learning about a Credit Union would be relevant, such as when graduating from school/college, buying their first car, etc.
- Social Communication and Engagement: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, these are all key platforms available to be used as engagement tools for Credit Unions. Creating unique relevant content can give Credit Unions a leg up when competing with banks.
- Embracing Technology: Millennials need to be able to access their accounts, apply for loans, transfer funds, etc., having a mobile app for your Credit Union will allow you to have a direct/instant line of engagement with the member. This alone will help but to be truly effective it needs to be supported on the back-end, loan decision turnaround times must be minimised and everything should move fluidly.
Referances:
**https://thefinancialbrand.com/57129/how-credit-unions-can-win-the-gen-y-market/
***http://www.millennialdisruptionindex.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/MDI_Final.pdf
****http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2016/05/17/credit-unions-need-great-mobile-app-to-attract-millennials/#2b4b7af0583c