No doubt you’ve seen the stats. If you haven’t, then you’ve probably at least heard them. And they don’t paint a promising picture for the future of credit unions:
- 75+% – the number of Millennials and Gen Z who don’t know what credit unions are
- 47+ – the average age of credit union account holders
Not only that, but credit unions are closing and consolidating left and right. So, the survival of the industry depends on bringing in—and keeping—new members.
Those members can’t all be 47 or older. That means you’ll need to make your credit union Millennial and Gen Z-friendly.
What Do Younger Generations Like?
At this point, we’ve seen decades of articles about what Millennials don’t like. We can probably expect the same recycle bin fodder about Gen Z. One thing seems clear:
Older generations are consistently surprised by what younger folks want.
So, if we may suggest a few broad strokes:
- Sincerity, authenticity, and care
- Convenience and ease
- Ethical and responsible business practices
As a credit union, you probably already provide a lot of that. Undoubtedly, you can provide even more of it. After all, it’s what you do.
But what do they want from your credit union specifically?
What Millennials and Gen Z Want from Credit Unions
At the risk of being cheeky, that’s tough to say. Because they don’t know what credit unions are!
But seriously now, there’s one easy way to know what younger generations want from your credit union. Now, I can basically hear some of your minds working right now:
- Social media!
- Apps, apps, apps!
- Text alerts instead of emails!
Not exactly. Those are things that many younger people use or sign up for, but they’re not the things younger generations like. (You may notice that the above are all about “convenience and ease,” which we mentioned in the last section.)
But here are the facts:
You don’t know what Millennials and Gen Z want.
Nobody does.
And it’s not going to help you to guess or read articles by other people who are guessing. Know what would help?
Asking your younger members what they want.
How to Ask Younger Members What They Want
You can always count on us to suggest asking people about what makes them tick. No need to scratch you head, hem and haw, or pontificate.
Just send a survey.
Seriously, it’s that easy.
We even provide a couple free ones to get you started. They’re not geared toward taking care of your younger members, but it may break your survey inertia anyway. Plus, it never hurts to see where you sit with a standardized metric.
Check your free NPS score here.
But think about what you can do if you actually ask younger members what they like, what they want, and what they need:
You’ll make your younger members happy. They’ll stick around. They’ll tell their friends. They’ll actually interact with you on social media, leave you good ratings on Yelp or Google, and explain to other people that yes, credit unions do offer loans, credit cards, and high-yield savings accounts.
If you build that relationship and understanding, you’ll succeed where others are failing.
All it takes is a survey.
Final Thoughts
Yes, we tend to think that communication—and listening to member feedback—helps you build a better credit union. We created our survey platform specifically for that purpose. It’s credit union-specific.
We invite you to read more of our blog to see what else surveys can help you with.
Or just subscribe. That’s the easy way out.
