Many credit unions don’t plan to offer Gen Zers’ top preferences

The trend: Credit unions (CUs) know they have an age problem—the average age of their customers is higher than that of the average American. But their product strategies don’t necessarily reflect an intent to change that.

The problem: Gen Z consumers have high expectations for innovative banking products and features. And they’re much likelier than other generations to switch financial institutions (FIs) if these expectations aren’t met, per a PYMNTS report.

• Despite the wide gap in innovation between top-performing and lagging CUs, even those dedicated to meeting Gen Zers’ needs still show major gaps in innovation.

The disconnect: Here are the features Gen Zers prioritize when evaluating financial institutions (FIs):

• 25% want their CU to offer Zelle, but over 40% of CUs surveyed have no plans to offer it by 2030.
• 20% of Gen Zers want their FI to debit cards tailored to young adults and teens, but a whopping 85% of CUs have no plans to offer such cards by 2030.
• 34% want their CUs to offer a mobile credit card app, but almost half of CUs don’t plan to offer mobile credit card apps by 2030.
• 28% of Gen Zers want their CU to offer financial planning tools, 23% of CUs have no plans to offer them by 2030.
• 27% of Gen Zers want their CUs to offer QR codes for easy in-store payments, but 31% of CUs aren’t planning to offer them by 2030.

Key takeaways: If CUs hope to build and strengthen relationships with Gen Zers by 2030, they’ll need to demonstrate that they’re listening to their needs and preferences before those six years are up—or risk losing young consumers to competitors. 

Though the cost associated with developing these features may cause CUs to hesitate, they should work toward launching these features as their budgets allow.

• Once they’re available, CUs’ marketing campaigns should let Gen Zers know.
• But marketers shouldn’t forget about what kind of campaigns resonate most with this demographic.