The following is a humor-filled yet factual guest post by Cullen Bushnell representing CO-OP Financial Services.
If you’re 18 to 35-years-old, you’re a millennial. But you already knew that. What I bet you didn’t know is that you’re not into banks anymore. If, however, you disagree, keep reading. Your mind’s about to be blown.
There are 85 million of us millennials and we’re nothing like the generations before. We love the lost art of customer service (have you been to a speakeasy bar recently? It takes like an hour to get the “perfect” drink and we wouldn’t have it any other way!) We speak in tech so much they should offer classes on how to speak to us. (Oh, wait, they do.)
When it comes to how we earn money, however, we’re just as unique in how we make it as we are in what we foresee for our financial futures.
This is why it’s kind of important that we sit up and take notice of how most of us are saving that skrilla.
Dig this: a recent study* found that 71 percent of millennials “would rather go to the dentist than listen to what banks are saying.” Ouch. With that, I’m providing you with a list of reasons why we just can’t with banks anymore.
- The banks blew it in August 2007 with the banking crisis. Obviously, once our trust is broken, we immediately take to our IG account with these feels:
- Millennials are born to rebel against “The Man.” And since the beginning of U.S. credit unions (1908 for you history geeks), these non-banks have stood for community and philanthropy. These are not-for-profit institutions with a focus on improving their members’ financial well-being. I mean. Could you just? This kind of community can’t be found at a bank.
- The struggle is real. Credit unions get it. They fully understand that many millennials are in that “in-between” place in life. Money is either leaving (quickly) because of student loans and that trip to Nepal to find yourself. Or money is flowing in because you landed that dream job. Whatever your situation, credit unions are a great place to start building credit. Credit union loans grew 13 percent between the start of the financial crisis and year-end 2012. Bank loans increased only three percent during that five-year period. In your face, banks.
- Talk techy to me. O.K., so maybe there was a time decades ago when banks had a flashy online banking apparatus. That’s really cool, banks, and we’re gonna let you finish, but credit unions have the coolest mobile banking apps of the season! (Thanks for being there when we need you, Kanye!) CardNav by CO-OP, for example, is an app that allows us to turn our cards on or off, play with settings (if we are ever in Nepal again on accident) and monitor our spending limits. This kind of control is next-level financial empowerment. And let’s say your app isn’t working for some strange reason. You make a call and a human speaks to you. A world where humans and technology work in harmony. Brilliant. Thanks, credit unions.
That’s a quick rundown of why we’re walking away all classy-like from banks. But there are so many more reasons why you should join. Learn more about what credit unions have to offer by clicking on J. Gatsby. He’ll take you there.
Thanks, Gatsby. You da real MVP.
*Based on recent three-year study known as Millennial Disruption Index, or MDI sponsored by Viacom Media Networks of New York
This post was brought to you by CO-OP Financial Services, a fintech provider to credit unions.
