BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Just as the financial services industry gets a handle on Millennials, a whole new generation of consumers is on their way: Generation Z.
According to the 2015 TD Bank Checking Experience Index, this up-and-coming generation wants to see more debit cards and better mobile banking.
Generation Z, also known as iGen or Post-Millennials, is the group of people born between 1996 and 2010. They comprise almost one-quarter of the U.S. population.
“They are the first truly digital generation, as most of them have never lived in a world without Internet access,” said LowCards.com’s Lynn Oldshue.
TD Bank surveyed 1,500 Americans, including Post-Millennials between the ages of 17 and 20—younger members of this cohort were not interviewed. Nearly three of four young financial consumers (74%) call their debit card "essential," compared to 56% of Americans overall.
“Mobile banking is also much more important to Post-Millennials,” explained Oldshue. “Forty-one percent of them believe their banking provider's mobile app is essential, while only 22% of other generations felt the same way. Fifty-three percent of Generation Z consumers use their mobile banking app to check account balances versus 21% of all other consumers.”
Oldshue said the results are similar to a study conducted by J.D. Power earlier this year, which discovered that Generation Z consumers use mobile banking at a higher rate (38%) than any other generation, whose collective usage is only 19%. Generation Z also uses mobile banking at least 48 times a year, while members of other generations use it around 39 times.
“Since Gen Z is so happy with mobile banking, they don't see the point in using online banking,” said Oldshue. “Of all age groups studied, only one in three said they wanted an easy to use online banking platform. Among Generation Z, only one in five consumers care about online banking. The good news for the banking industry is that 92% of Generation Z consumers are happy with their primary checking account and day-to-day banking experience.”