Millennials Want High Tech Banks

According to Rich Feldmann, U.S. banking industry solutions director at Microsoft, 80 million tech-savvy millennials have entered or will soon be entering the workforce. Because of their large numbers, banks will obviously want to attract the business of these young customers, the so-called “millennials” (aka “Generation Y”) whose ages range between 18 and 30. In order to get their business, many banks may need to step up efforts to reach this generation by increasing their efforts in high-tech channels. According to a a recent survey, the “Millennials in Banking Survey 2008,” conducted for Microsoft by Pleasanton, Calif.-based Javelin Strategy and Research, today’s Millennials are very active online customers and their tech-savviness plays a role in which bank they decide to do business with.

After surveying approximately 600 U.S., 200 Canada, 400 UK and 400 Australian millennials, the data shows that for basic transactions with their banks, a large majority of these young customers do their business online: 74% check their balances online and 70% pay their bills online. However, complex transactions like opening a new account or applying for a loan are often still done in person, with 57% choosing to open accounts in person and 52% choosing to apply for loans in person. Of course, the flip side of those numbers show that there’s still a good sized group who’s interested in online alternatives to even those more complicated transactions.

Of the millennials who did their banking online, 15 percent prefer talking to customer service via instant messaging (IM). There were variations by country in this question, with Canada preferring IM two times or more the rate of others.

Also of note is the fact that millennials will often choose their bank based on the bank’s web site. The survey showed that 58% of customers would visit the bank’s web site when researching banks as part of their decision-making process. The only other category that rated higher was a personal recommendation through word-of-mouth, which came in at 65%. (Respondents were allowed to choose up to three answers for that particular question).

The full survey can be viewed here.

Speaking of banking, I don't know about you, but I would definitely like to bank here:

See this video on MSN Soapbox