4 Must-Haves to Attract Millennial Cardholders

Over the past few years, credit unions and credit card companies alike have spent a lot of time and money trying to figure out what makes millennials tick and what their preferences are in terms of credit cards. As the largest working class in today’s age, millennials have been an important demographic that credit unions need to win over – and a key demographic that represents a growth pocket for card issuers.

According to the findings in Zeta’s co-created paper with Aite-Novarica, there are four key areas of emphasis that drive credit card adoption among millennials. Millennials want control, convenience, mobility and security. Let’s discuss these four areas and why millennials care about them.

Control

Millennials are used to having a majority of their everyday lives accessible and manageable from their devices. Smartphones allow cardholders to unlock digital-first capabilities and smartphone ownership is growing, with approximately 85% of U.S. adults stating that they own a smartphone. With the growing adoption of smartphones, this means their preferences for card and banking usage needs to be available across all accessible channels.

Features like card controls matter to them as they are able to set limits to watch spending, set parameters for where and how they spend their money, and so on. Millennials want their experience to be tailored to them and feel like they have unique services that best fit their needs. Utilizing and optimizing the digital channel is how best to address these requests that attract and retain millennial customers.

Additionally, when it comes to fraud, millennials want to take control and manage digitally and with ease, rather than waiting on the phone and going back and forth with their credit union to manage simple chargebacks.

Convenience

Another important factor in driving millennial adoption is making their experience convenient. As mentioned previously, millennials are looking for services that are unique to them as a person. This also means providing options that are convenient and allow for self-service solutions. Over 90% of millennials cite easy-to-use online banking capabilities as important or very important when considering a new banking relationship.

Digital features like chat functions, card preferences, expense management and real-time solutions make the experience seamless and instantaneous. The card issuer needs to work with millennials on convenience to address where, how and when they want their services and payments handled.

Mobility

Card payments are no longer limited to a physical card, and physical wallets are slowly losing their necessity. For this reason, card issuance needs to go beyond the physical. Between smartphones and smartwatches, rings and other forms of accessories, payment devices are looking very different. This means that card issuers need to make sure they have mobile options like digital wallets.

This is especially important given the ability to integrate payment methods into commonly used applications. If a person leaves their wallet at home, they can simply use one of their devices to fulfill the payment rather than having to cancel an order or go home to get their card.

Digital mobility is no longer an option, but a necessity.

Security

Another important factor for millennials is security when it comes to their credit cards. When it comes to fraud, quick actions are needed to prevent additional fraudulent activity for both the credit union and the consumer.

Having access to features like enabling and disabling a card with a single touch from a smartphone device, and the ability to immediately mark cards as lost or stolen, are crucial to the millennial group. In addition, millennials appreciate the incorporation of solutions to identify fraud and notify consumers of unusual activity.

Through functionalities like card on/off, consumers feel that they have taken security measures into their own hands and can stop additional charges and damages. This not only empowers the consumer but also allows the credit union to react to fraud more quickly.

Although millennials may seem like a complex group, meeting their needs really comes down to providing basic necessities within credit card offerings. Credit unions can lean on their technology partners to incorporate these four factors and continue evolving for millennials and the generations to come.

Adopting a modern card platform is becoming more imperative, and this trend will continue as more millennials and other future generations obtain payment cards. It’s time for credit unions to look at their card and technology platforms to make sure they have systems in place to remain relevant and competitive.

Bhavin Turakhia is the Co-founder and CEO of Zeta, a San Francisco-based banking technology provider.