According to Student Village, the way that youth view and engage with banks, insurance and telecommunications companies are evolving fast – and it’s time for leading brands to take note.
Here’s 5 of the latest bean growing need-to-knows of the youth:
One Bank Can’t Satisfy My Needs
Gone are the days of young people sticking to the bank their parents – and their parents – banked with. The 18-25 year olds of today have a polygamous approach to banking: they like a variety of banks to fulfil very specific needs. A bank that offers good rates might be used for savings only, for instance, while a bank that has super-easy app experience might be used to pay utilities. The youth are looking at multi brands apart from exclusive relationships.
Cashless and Creditless
Credit is getting the cold shoulder too. ‘Generation Wise’ sees the hardships their parents’ face paying back loans, and so they’re credit wary. Together with credit, cash is falling out of favour fast, with many younger consumers saying they can’t remember the last time they held a note. Online spending is replacing cash which has increased in popularity after seeing a rise in credibility in recent years. In 2019, 64% of youth did their spending online. Student Village predicts that online spending has increased significantly and crypto currency might very well follow the same trend when youth find it to be both convenient and trustworthy.
Who’s Eating Whose Lunch?
Banks and telecommunications companies are adopting each other’s behaviour. It’s a case of who’s eating whose lunch? Are the telcos the next banks? Or are banks the next telcos? When it comes to how youth view mobile, however, the key phrase is ‘options, not commitments’, in addition to a re-think of the idea that cash-strapped students always go the cheap route. According to Student Village, the youth of today are willing to pay for value: research shows us that ‘Vodacom is the Sandton of networks’ in the eyes of ‘Generation Wise’ as it offers the widest coverage at a slightly higher price.
Disruption in the Insurance Sector
In the insurance sector, start-ups like Pineapple and Naked Insurance appeal to the demographic. They ‘get’ the youth’s needs and make it easy to engage with their products and services. There is also an element of so-called ‘adulting lite’ where younger youths are more focused on device insurance and older youths focus more on traditional insurance such as life insurance and medical.
Twitter Gets s%*t Done!
Ah Twitter. The growth of which has become the holy grail of customer service. Getting a quick response from a bank is as easy as tagging it on the social media platform, bypassing traditional means such as waiting on the phone or standing in line.
This, is how the youth of today are engaging with their service providers. Faster, easier and optional – with a personal touch. Anything else, is just a waste of dreams and time.
For more visit: www.studentvillage.co.za
