For financial institutions of all shapes and sizes, attracting new generations of clients can be a challenge as the needs of the modern consumer evolve faster than many banks and credit unions can meet them. But executives are working to solve this gap by "humanizing" the customer experience.
A
Results found that close to half of those polled from the Silent and Boomer generations selected their main financial institution based on distance and convenient locations. Contrasting that, similar percentages of younger consumers from the Generation Z and millennial age groups relied instead on the recommendations of family or friends when deciding where to bank.
Credit unions and community banks have gained significant ground over recent years, launching bespoke services and novel campaigns built off of the feedback of customers.
But going beyond new products and geographic locations, a key factor in determining how effective banks and credit unions are in reaching new markets comes down to better meeting consumers where they are in their financial journeys, said Margaret Echelbarger, an assistant professor of marketing at Stony Brook University who studies how children develop as decision makers and enter into the economic markets.
"If they're truly interested in embracing financial inclusion, institutions need to make sure that whatever they're putting out there is something that's going to be acceptable and doable for families across the income spectrum," Echelbarger said.
Echelbarger emphasized that nurturing these connections starts in the home by "creating opportunities for not just parents to be teachers, but for children to be the teachers as well" and "engaging the entire multi-generational family in the thinking process" to foster financial education at all levels.
"It's really up to financial institutions to engage in a way that's going to resonate with those individuals across their own lifespan and across different life periods within the same home," Echelbarger said.
After the research isolated four main drivers that make up a humanized customer experience — behavioral, intellectual, emotional and sensorial — respondents weighed in on how their primary financial institution performed on each aspect.
Below are descriptions of what each driver encompasses and how banks, credit unions and other financial players are tailoring business plans to better match customer expectations.
