Person annoyed with her mobile banking experience.
Patience may be a virtue but not when it comes to banking. Almost 40% of millennials dumped mobile banking activities because it took too long, according to a new survey.
Millennials may be trailblazers in mobile banking usage, but credit unions and banks must adapt their user experience for onboarding to attract and retain them as customers, according to findings released by Palo Alto, Calif.- based Jumio and Pleasanton, Calif.-based Javelin Strategy & Research, which examined mobile banking adoption across generational divides.
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The "Banking Across Generations" findings disclosed that while over 75% of millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers use online banking, millennials lead in mobile banking adoption (47%), while Baby Boomers lag (23%). Across generations, peer-to-peer payments is the most popular mobile banking activity (33% of users). The most common mobile banking activities reported were quick transactions, including P2P payments, transferring funds between accounts and monitoring recent transactions.
The account opening, or onboarding, process is especially critical as an abandoned transaction at this stage is a negative first experience for a customer, the study suggested. Of those who opened bank accounts last year, 49 percent were millennials. Credit cards were the most common type of new account opened on web or mobile, with 61% of individuals who opened a new credit card did so via digital methods.
"While online banking has reached parity across age groups, mobile banking adoption is still accelerating," Al Pascual, SVP, Research Director and Head of Fraud & Security at Javelin Research, said. "To capitalize on the growing demand for mobile banking as millennials grow in spending power, financial institutions must simplify user experience and address ongoing concerns around security and fraud."
The report also found the user experience for mobile banking asks too much of millennials; 43% have abandoned mobile banking activities versus only 25% of Gen Xers and only 13% of Baby Boomers. The uppermost complaints across generations of mobile banking users was the process took too long (36% overall, 38% for millennials); or they could not remember their password (28%).
Almost a third of respondent are not shy about reacting to their bad experiences. Of those that abandoned at least one mobile activity, 31% responded negatively to the financial institution by sharing the experience with a family or friend, opening an account at another financial institution, filing a complaint or stopping patronage altogether.
"Though expectations for information security are critical, banks must find a way to reduce friction in account opening processes," Stephen Stuut, CEO at Jumio said. "Millennial expectations for a simple, fast user experience will make the difference between long-term customer loyalty and churn. Jumio pairs the confidence of the world's largest ID verification provider with a streamlined onboarding process to help businesses keep their valued customers, while reducing fraud."
Among all age groups surveyed, information security and fear of fraud were the top two concerns identified. Baby Boomers responded with the highest rates of alarm, with 55% reporting information security concerns, while 51% pointed to a fear of fraud, more than any other group.
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
