Six ways to attract millennials as bank customers

Millennials are the fastest growing and largest population segment in the United States with more than 75 million men and women. (See Marketing debit and credit to millennials.)

Projected population by generation (in millions)¹

Attracting Checking Account Business

There are several strategies you can use to attract millennials as checking account customers. Here are the top six ways to attract millennials to your bank.

1.    Get their attention.

• Promote key features: Obtaining a debit card is the primary reason millennials open a checking account, so lead with debit card messaging when marketing checking accounts to attract millennials.
• Highlight budgeting tools: Millennials love debit because it helps them control and track their spending.  Ensure any budgeting tools you offer are featured in checking account acquisition communications. If you don’t currently offer these tools, consider developing them.
• Sell Security. Security is a top payment need among millennials. Seventy-eight percent of millennials say they want a payment method that is safe and secure.⁵ Highlight security features such as account alerts or two-way text fraud alerts to appeal to millennials. 

2.   Speak their language. Use simple, straightforward wording and an informal tone.  Don’t use corporate language or industry jargon. Younger millennials in particular have less experience with banking, and you want to be approachable, not intimidating. 

3.   Be consistent: Millennials move effortlessly between on- and offline touch points, so ensure the they are seeing the same message, regardless of channel they choose—whether it’s email, direct mail, social media, display ads or a branded app.

4.   Make online account opening easy: 2016 was the tipping point when digital checking account acquisition exceeded in-branch account openings⁶, so implementing a seamless online and mobile acquisition process is imperative. And make sure your marketing mix reflects this change, with sufficient investment in digital and social media advertising. 

5.   Offer a great mobile app: Mobile capabilities are a great way to engage millennials. Thirty percent use their bank's mobile app daily, and 66 percent use it a few times a week.⁷ And, when mobile capabilities don’t meet expectations, millennials go elsewhere. 

Twenty-four percent of millennials  switched their primary checking account to have access to better mobile capabilities.⁸ At a minimum, make sure your mobile app user experience is comparable to the competition. Ideally, it should offer best-in-class functionality. 

Millennial banking app usage⁹

6.    Promote social responsibility. Millennials care about making a positive impact on the world and are more likely to purchase a product with a social or environmental benefit.¹⁰ Inspire loyalty among millennials by promoting social responsibility and local community efforts in a way that can be easily found and shared with others. 

Ready to boost your millennial acquisition? Here’s how Visa can help: 

• Benchmarking and analytics: Understand the penetration of millennials among your debit portfolio, and their spending patterns compared to other Visa issuers.
• Custom research: Test checking account and debit positioning, messaging and features to make sure your offering resonates.
• User experience testing: See how millennials rate your online and mobile experiences compared to competitors.