By Frank J. Diekmann
Credit unions may have a new role in the future: personal morale boosters.
For the first time, Americans younger than 35 have less consumer confidence than those age 55 and older, according to a new study.
The findings could have implications for credit unions and their messaging, as Millennials–despite the penchant for describing everything as “amazing”–are less optimistic than the Baby Boomers who proceeded them.
Of course, you could argue that helping people who are in a tough fix has been the job of credit unions since day one, so maybe it won’t be that big an adjustment.
Nevertheless, the findings from the University of Michigan, Haver Analytics and Deutsche Bank Global Research study mark the first time in the last six decades that a younger generation has shown such pessimism.
Among the reasons cited for the lower confidence by Millennials are the $1.4-trillion in student debt held by the generation and rising home prices (and the necessary down payments).
It isn’t just younger Americans who are seeing more cloud than silver lining ahead. A 2017 Pew Research Center study found just 37% of Americans believe that today’s children will grow up to be better off financially than their parents. That study found49% of 18- to 29-year-olds believedthe next generation will be worse off, while 61% of Americans aged 50 and over believe the next generation will be worse off.
Pew also found that firs the first time in 130 years, Americanadults aged 18 to 34 were more likely to live with their parents than with a spouse or partner in their own household.
So, add all that into what you need to do to attract Millennials.
And on to some other items of recent note…
Sign Here. OK, Maybe Not
Speaking of Millennials, the generation that often can’t read analog clocks is making another long-time taken-for-granted practice obsolete: the ability (or even need) to sign a signature.
According to Mastercard’s “Signature Retirement” survey, nearly one in five Americans (17%) don’t remember the last time they used their signature outside of a sales receipt. Younger generations are less likely to remember this information (20% of those 18-34 years don’t remember vs. 14% of those 55+). While one in three Americans dislike writing in script (32%), younger consumers (18-34-year-olds) were also found to be nearly two times more likely to dislike writing in script (41%) compared to those 55+ (24%).
Not that consumers will even need to sign a receipt for an electronic purchase for much longer.
Mastercard has also announced that merchants in the U.S. and Canada could forego cardholder signatures for in-store credit and debit purchases, effective April 13.
Over the past several years, Mastercard said it has implemented new security and authorization solutions, including the successful chip migration, tokenization and biometrics as well as early detection systems to minimize the need for cardholder signatures in fraud prevention. In addition, contactless or tap-and-go payments are set to take off with a majority of new payment terminals equipped with the necessary hardware, Mastercard said.
He Has a Point
This very good point was recently made by Robbie Wright of Ongoing Operations during NACUSO’s annual meeting at Disneyland: “A lot of credit unions go through life says they want to be different, but I can tell you that every web page I read on nearly every credit union’s site says, ‘Sixty years ago we were founded by… and today we now serve everyone who lives or works or worships in…’ ”
Dude, How Do You Think I Have Time for This Survey?
In conjunction with April 20, better known as 4/20 or the official marijuana holiday (maybe it’s just me but methinks that’s everyday), LendEDU surveyed 1,001 adult Americans who say they intend on consuming marijuana one and found some pretty interesting (but maybe not surprising) numbers. Among the findings were that 35.66% of respondents are planning to take the day off, while a five-times-the-national-average 22.48% were unemployed.
Fewer Than 100 Days Left
Just a reminder, we're now under 100 days until the terrific CUTomorrow Conference takes place in Austin, Sept. 9-11. It's low-priced, but packed with some of the best success stories featured in CUToday.info as they share what has worked for them, and how it can work for you. Details here.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.infoor @FrankCUToday.