How to Move Older Customers to Digital Banking Channels

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The Covid-19 pandemic altered how Americans conduct financial transactions, with many making a permanent shift to digital channels.

However, one age group still is a holdout. Baby boomers, ages 58 to 76, didn’t flock to digital channels, especially mobile banking, at as high of a rate as younger cohorts, according to the American Bankers Association. This demographic is still more likely than younger generations to conduct transactions at bank branches.

Of course, in-person banking fosters engagement and drives loyalty. But by not using digital channels, banks miss an opportunity to unlock the value of this high-engagement, high-balance demographic. Forward-thinking banks recognize that the era of the sleepy “senior account” and frequent branch visits is in decline. Rather than let these customers tell you that they’re fine with coming into a branch for all transactions, banks should take steps to help their older customers take advantage of technology that turns service costs into potential growth.

Focus on Safer, Not Easier
Older adults who use online banking are much more likely than younger adults to be concerned about security, according to a survey from Lightico. Banks should make the case to older customers that digital banking channels are secure and can provide a safer banking experience.

Provide staff with talking points in simple language about the layers of protection your financial institution uses to keep customers’ sensitive information safe. Create a list of the security benefits of online banking that staff can share with older customers, such as:

• The ability to check accounts at any time, rather than waiting for a monthly statement.
• The ability to pay bills online and set up automatic payments to prevent checks from getting lost or stolen in the mail.
• The ability to set up notifications of transactions, such as a low account balance or large withdrawals.

Some banks even choose to use digital platforms to provide an additional level of protection for older customers. These services can monitor accounts 24/7 and alert account holders to unusual transactions, signs of fraud and even money mistakes that are common among older adults

Highlight Digital Controls
Staying in control of their finances often is a top concern that older adults have about aging. One way banks can encourage older adults to move to digital banking channels is by highlighting how digital access keeps them in control over their finances. Rather than reconciling checkbooks with account statements each month, they can check their account balance at any time. They can stay in control of bills by setting up automatic payments to avoid late or missed payments or involving others to help with getting payments in the mail.

If they want to gain even more control, encourage them to simplify their financial lives by consolidating accounts that they have at other financial institutions into accounts they have at your bank. Then they’ll just need one password to log on and get a complete picture of their finances. Digital channels are critical to meeting the strong desire of older adults to remain independent.

Digital Doesn’t Replace Humans
Your older customers might be reluctant to adopt digital banking because they enjoy interacting with “their person” at the bank. Banks should emphasize that online and mobile banking isn’t meant to replace in-person banking or their personal relationship in the branch. Rather, these digital tools give relationship managers more ways to help them, from fraud detection and oversight to issue resolution.

Too many banks pitch digital channels as “convenience.” However safety and control are the drivers of digital conversion and engagement for this demographic —and even a potential bridge to acquire their tech-friendly children as new customers.

Want to Attract Millennials? Just Ask Them What They Want

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millennials-1-11-17.pngHarrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Centric Bank, with $463 million in assets, wants to attract young customers to do business with the bank, and the up-and-coming talent needed for its future success. To make that happen, CEO Patricia Husic and her team are going straight to the source by partnering with a local young professionals’ organization.

In early 2016, Husic addressed Harrisburg Young Professionals (HYP), a civic organization with members averaging 25 to 35 years old, as part of a breakfast series that brought in CEOs from the community to speak to the group. Soon after, she and Derek Whitesel, HYP’s executive director, met at Husic’s request to discuss how the two organizations could partner to create an advisory board to help the bank understand the unique qualities of the millennial generation.

“It’s such an important piece for us, as a community bank, to look at how we make ourselves relevant to the millennial group” as clients and potential employees, says Husic.

On paper, the millennial generation should be a boon for the banking industry. Working millennials in the U.S., at 53.5 million, surpassed Generation X (52.7 million) and the baby boomers (44.6 million) in the 1st quarter 2015, according to Pew Research, which defines millennials as those born after 1980. The financial needs of millennials are growing, as they balance record levels of student loan debt with traditional desires like home ownership. But the first digital generation is also more open to up-and-coming mobile providers to meet its financial needs and has been reticent to work for the traditional banking industry, whose reputation has taken a beating since the financial crisis.

Centric isn’t the first bank to establish a millennial advisory group. Since 2009, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp has selected millennial employees to provide input on various company initiatives, from mobile app design to employee benefits. Nearby Mid Penn Bancorp, in Millersburg, Pennsylvania with $1 billion in assets, formed its own millennial advisory board in 2016 to better meet the needs of younger customers. Like Centric, the group is comprised of employees and local professionals.

Centric’s millennial advisory board held its first meeting in November 2016. Each member has committed to a two-year term and will meet quarterly for one to two hours to discuss what millennials want and need from financial institutions and employers, and to outline strategies to attract and retain millennial customers and employees. Eight members are bank staff—all millennials—and eight, including Whitesel, come from HYP. Different industries and skill sets are represented.

Two co-chairs—Nicole Cooper, a teller manager from Centric, and Trevin Shirey, an HYP member and business development manager at an internet marketing company—are responsible for organizing the meetings and setting the advisory board’s agenda. Millennials on the advisory board are uncompensated but will have direct access to Centric’s board of directors, with the co-chairs presenting quarterly updates to the board and leadership team that outline key initiatives and progress toward goals.

The partnership doesn’t just benefit Centric. “There [are] a lot of movers and shakers [on Centric’s board] that are highly involved in the Harrisburg community, so being able to connect those eight young professionals to those people directly is ultimately a great opportunity for them to network in the community and get to advance their professional careers,” says Whitesel. Husic adds that membership on the board should be a “great resume builder.”

The first task to be completed by the group has advisory board member Cody Wanner—the co-founder of video production company CAP Collective—documenting the bank’s online account opening process. The group will review the footage and offer its input. “We’re all going to sit together and watch,” says Husic. “If we don’t hear the unfiltered feedback, how do we make ourselves a better bank?” Next, the group plans to focus on the bank’s mobile app, again recording the experience. Centric also plans to bring in companies identified as leaders in mobile app development for demonstrations.

Husic plans to measure the success of the millennial advisory board’s recommendations, and the bank’s implementation of them. Is Centric moving the needle when it comes to acquiring millennial accounts? Are more young job seekers interested in working at the bank? Currently, 15 percent of Centric’s employees are millennials. Husic wants to get closer to 30 percent, and for Centric to gain a reputation as an “employer of choice” for younger workers.

Attracting millennial employees is important to the long-term sustainability of the bank, Husic says, and she’s open to the advisory board’s input—even if it takes her a little out of her own personal comfort zone. “They said, ‘did you ever think about getting a dodgeball team together?’” says Husic, who is open to the idea but reticent to play herself. “I’ll bring the snacks,” she says.