A new CO-OP Financial Services white paper finds the attitudes and access of Millennials to credit cards are changing, just as they are approaching their prime spending years and credit cards remain a favorite way to transact.
For credit union issuers, the convergence of these trends presents several opportunities, chief among them to earn the trust and positively impact the financial health of America’s fastest-growing consumer segment.
To-date, Millennials have not found it easy to obtain credit. Many graduated college with record student loan debt. They were also denied the access to credit enjoyed by prior generations, due to Credit CARD Act regulations. In fact, the thin credit histories of the nation’s Millennials is often cited as one reason the segment has been faster to adopt digital payment apps.
The CO-OP whitepaper “What’s in the Cards for the Millennial Market” reports, “While their entry into the credit card market has been relatively slow, the Millennial generation is finally advancing financially – and as a result, many are opening credit card accounts.”
To help credit unions position their cards as the most attractive option, the white paper explores several macro themes while also providing key takeaways, including:
How Millennials view financial institutions: They expect credit unions and banks to provide leading-edge digital capabilities. Mobile deposits, P2P and digital wallets are a must as far as Millennial consumers are concerned.
Seven things Millennials want from a credit card program: 24/7 digital access, personalization, mobile apps with controls and alerts, simplicity, rewards, security and expert advice from the issuer are essentials in the eye of a Millennial cardholder.
Courting the Millennial cardholder: Credit unions are perfectly positioned to woo Millennials away from banks due to their lower fees and the exceptionally high satisfaction scores. The white paper includes five strategies for attracting Millennial cardholders.
Bridging the generation gap: The needs of Millennial cardholders will change as their financial journeys progress. To successfully grow and enrich relationships with this segment, it’s important to continuously analyze portfolio performance and add new features relevant to the Millennial segment. To assist, CO-OP’s SmartGrowth team applies a data-driven approach to spotting micro and macro-level trends and provides credit union card teams with record-level data for smarter, more informed decisions.
Credit union leaders can access the white paper for free here.
For more information on CO-OP’s credit card programs for credit unions, visit https://www.co-opfs.org/Solutions/Pay/Credit.
About CO-OP Financial Services
CO-OP Financial Services is a payments and financial technology company whose mission is ensuring the success of the credit union movement. CO-OP payments solutions, engagement services and strategic counsel help credit unions optimize member experiences to consistently provide seamless, personalized multi-channel offerings, while delivering secure, sophisticated fraud mitigation service. For more information, visit www.co-opfs.org.
