Survey Shows Credit Union Kids Want to Bank Elsewhere

A recent survey of credit union members over the age of 65 found that 60% of their adult children do not bank with their parent’s credit union, an indication, the survey authors said, that credit unions need to take steps to preserve intergenerational relationships.

Online banking and software company Access Softek surveyed more than 500 credit union members in late May, finding that only 9% of respondents recommended their credit union to their adult children. The results reflected other studies that found more demographic-based attrition, specifically within the younger generations.

Data analytics company Trellance found that the average age of credit union members in 2018 was 47 years old. And a FICO study found that the percentage of young people using a credit union dropped from roughly 20% for those under the age of 25 to 10% for those between 25 and 34.

“Credit unions appear to be doing great with loyal members over the age of 65, indicated by the 68% of surveyed consumers who had been with their credit union for more than a decade, but this loyalty does not make the transition to the younger generations,” Access Softek CEO and Founder Chris Doner said in a statement.

Doner added that credit unions need to leverage long-standing family relationships and employ digital wealth management tools already used at larger rival banks to better appeal to younger generations.

“Credit unions need to ensure that they are not just offering the tools that appeal to their existing base but add in digital offerings such as real-time online loan products and mobile-based investing that are needed by Generation X and millennials,” Doner said.