Millennials have a unique stack of financial problems compared to generations past. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials came to age during the Great Recession. Some of their financial woes are hot topics, like student loan debt, and they also struggle with taking necessary financial steps, like investing or securing insurance.
Enter fintech companies, digital-based businesses providing new twists on financial concepts. These financial services allow consumers to have more influence on their financial outcomes and they’re making traditional financial services sweat.
If you’re concerned about what the success of fintech means for your financial business, take a moment to learn what fintech companies Millennials love. You’ll see common threads that can point financial services in the right direction for the future.
Betterment
Betterment is a robo-advisor that offers banking services, investing options, and online retirement advice. Its services are ideal for hands-off investors and those who want to start investing, but don’t have much capital to do so. There’s no account minimum and users pay a reasonable fee of 0.25% of assets under management annually.
Before its launch, portfolio investing was dominated by human management. But this fintech rocked the boat by introducing an algorithmic portfolio investing method that caters to users’ risk tolerance, finances, and goals.
What Millennials Love
Millennials love artificial intelligence, or AI. While Millennials know they should invest, very few are confident enough to take the plunge. Being able to log into an app, fill out a few forms with your personal information, how much you want to invest, and select a goal is all you need to do to become an official investor.
Because of its competitive fees, Betterment is a great option for contract workers or Millennials who aren’t ready to commit to a career just yet and don’t have the option of investing in a 401K program.
Acorns
Acorns automatically invests your spare change left over from card transactions. Simply link as many cards as you would like to your account and the app-based investment vehicle will round up the amount and invest the difference.
There’s no minimum investment and the service is free for college students, a great marketing tactic to pull in broke Millennials.
What Millennials Love
Acorns makes investing simple for Millennials, or anyone who either doesn’t have a lot to invest or just doesn’t understand the ropes. Acorns also gives investors more control by offering five portfolio types and allowing users to customize which transactions get included in their round-up investments. This appeals to Millennials who want to manage their finances, but just don’t know how.
Mint
Mint is a free budgeting app that has captivated Millennials. It automatically syncs to bank, credit card, and investment accounts. It provides free credit score information and serves as a financial hub where users can view virtually every aspect of their financial lives.
The app automatically syncs, categorizes, and takes portfolio snapshots that makes users feel like they have a financial advisor in their pocket.
What Millennials Love
Integrating and syncing are two of Millennials’ favorite hobbies. The app virtually does everything for its users, bringing a new meaning to hands-off budgeting. But at the same time, users can control what Mint has access to and what it doesn’t. Users feel that they can protect their data while getting their finances in order.
Haven Life
Haven Life is a fintech life insurance agency. It offers term life insurance policies with coverage lasting as long as 30 years and amounting to as much as $3 million.
Applications can be completed in less than 15 minutes and for some eligible applicants, a medical exam may not be required. Policies are provided by Haven Life’s parent company, Mass Mutual.
What Millennials Love
Millennials love convenience, which is what Haven Life exudes. Millennials are putting off getting married, having children, and buying homes, all of which are traditional life signals to buy a life insurance policy.
When a late-night thought pops into a Millennial’s head that it might be time to secure a life insurance policy, being able to apply for one in the comfort of their own bed and waking up with life insurance is exactly what they want.
Revolut
Revolut is a banking app and payment card that, for some Millennials, is serving as an alternative to traditional banking products and services. Revolut users can spend money abroad without having to worry about hidden fees.
The Revolut card works with more than 130 currencies and provides accurate exchange rates without the need for brokers. Revolut also provides cryptocurrency services and can be used to save money, track spending, or automatically send money to other users.
What Millennials Love
This fintech company is a match for Millennials because it’s designed for those who want flexibility and a banking service that adapts to the needs of its clients. Millennials are 24% more likely to travel abroad than older generations, making the ability to spend freely in foreign countries a major selling point.
Final Takeaway
So, what have we learned about Millennials’ love of fintech? There are some common features that link all these fintech companies Millennials use together.
They offer simplified user experiences, accessible analytics, personalization, integration, and time-saving features. Their services are available 24/7 and often provide instant gratification.
There are some attributes of fintech that today’s financial businesses just can’t compete with. At the same time, fintech companies can never offer the same level of personalized service and the human touch of traditional financial companies.
Let your services and marketing approaches be inspired by fintech companies, but keep your core values at the heart of your business. Learn how NYB Creative can help you market to Millennials and compete with today’s fintech companies.
