Generation Z (aka Gen Z, iGen, or centennials), refers to the generation that was born between 1997-2012, following millennials. This generation has been raised on the internet and social media, with some of the oldest finishing college and entering the workforce. This technology-driven generation will soon become the largest cohort of consumers—and credit unions who want a piece of this opportunity will need to understand their tendencies and digital expectations. Let’s explore how Generation Z finds, uses, and what they expect from your credit union’s website. 

Generation Z searches long-tail keywords. 

A long-tail keyword is a phrase that is generally made from three to six words. Since these keywords are more specific than generic terms, they allow you to target niche demographics, like Gen Z. As a side note, these keywords are less competitive than generic keywords because they are designed to better reflect how people make queries. An example of a long-tail keyword would be “credit union home loan rates” rather than trying to rank for the highly competitive keyword “mortgage.” Even if you aren’t interested in targeting Gen Z just yet, you should still optimize your website and content for long-tail search keywords. While Gen Z most commonly uses this search tactic, millennials aren’t far behind. 

Taking this point further, with voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, Gen Z and millennials also regularly use voice assistants and smart devices. This means that when a person verbally asks questions or gives full commands to voice assistants, the AI algorithm will recognize the long-tail phrase and perform search queries for them (Bump, 2020). 

At this point, long-tail is getting more and more common across the board. Optimizing your website to cater to Gen Z search queries will only help you gain traffic from all age groups as this search tactic becomes more common throughout age groups. 

Generation Z includes “best,” “cheap,” or “how-to,” in search queries. 

A Fractl study found that Gen Zers are most likely to begin searches with the word “best.” For example, when asking for results related to the “best restaurants in Boston.” While 30% to 32% Baby Boomers and Gen Xers used the term in searches during the experiment, 56% of Gen Z used it (Bump, 2020). 

The commodity of “best” searches could suggest that Gen Z is more interested than other generations in using search platforms to get recommendations or suggestions for the best possible experience.

Other phrases that Gen Z searches more than other generations include “cheap” and “how to.” Being a member of the Gen Z generation myself, I can attest to this statistic. When conducting a Google search, they always start with a “best” or “how-to.” 

Gen Z searches for video over other content types.

According to Think with Google, 85% of teenagers within Gen Z use YouTube to regularly find content; while 80% of Gen Z says YouTube videos have successfully taught them about something. Aside from using video for entertainment, both millennials and Gen Z prefer to watch videos for information gathering purposes. Even when it comes to learning about a new brand or product, these age groups prefer video explainers, product demos, or other marketing videos to simply reading about a company online (Bump, 2021). 

This brings light to the statement I made in my first blog post when I said, a website should not be a digital brochure. It should have content that comes to life. While creating video content for a site can be time-consuming and costly, there are beneficial aspects. Having videos explaining the mortgage process, how to raise a credit score, or how to start a retirement fund will bolster your website views and traffic to all audiences, leading to new members and loans. 

New generations will always present new opportunities for innovation in the ways they prefer content and the overall experience desired. As we can see from above, Generation Z is no stranger to this. I encourage all to further research aspects of Gen Z and how they work. It gives a fresh perspective on everything!

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Consumers are constantly evolving expectations from their financial institutions – especially so over these last few years – they expect next-level services in a small amount of time, all the while being able to do it in the palms of their hands. For credit unions, it can be challenging to stay in tune with these demands because of hurdles like lack of development capabilities, outdated systems, and, of course, costs. Luckily for us, rather than viewing them as competition, we can seek out fintechs to partner with to help us stay competitive and better serve our membership. Let’s explore potential fintech partners for your credit union’s website.

Flybits

Flybits empowers institutions to engage an audience of one, at scale. Through their leading customer experience platform, you can deliver data-driven, personalized recommendations and advice, inside your mobile app or website. Create value beyond your financial assets, and inspire your members to live their best lives through your credit union’s website/app. Imagine if you could push personalized offers for local businesses while members are shopping downtown, or while shopping online they are reminded of their credit card benefits. This experience platform connects with your members in real-time with their always-on, privacy-preserving collection of experience modules. Help members buy a home, save, travel, and more with their end-to-end solution that integrates data and analytics, experience design, and channel delivery, without the technical lift.

Blend

Streamline the end-to-end digital mortgage process with an intuitive application for borrowers and a dedicated workspace with data-driven workflows for loan teams with Blend. The fintech delivers instant pre-approval, asset verification, income and employment verification, real estate agent matching, homeowners insurance options, and automated title search. Implementing a cohesive process like Blend’s, on your credit union website can set your institution up to compete with large online lenders like Quicken. A new survey on borrowing and lending by ICE Mortgage Technology finds that the pandemic has permanently changed the way consumers utilize technology, and those looking to buy or refinance a home are seeking lenders who offer online tools to complete their mortgage loans from home (Richardson, 2021). 

Mantl

Digital and mobile banking have become the norm, rather than the exception. One survey of more than 5,000 consumers found that 69% wish to perform all their banking and financial actions through online and mobile channels. Consumers expect to be able to open an account, take out personal loans, transfer funds, and check their balance from any device, on-the-go (Civic Team, 2019). Taking this static in, on top of the digital transformation spearheaded by the coronavirus, credit unions should seriously consider implementing digital account opening on their site. MANTL helps your bank or credit union grow deposits and streamline back-office tasks with an omnichannel account opening platform that integrates with your core. The fintech set up your institution to offer consumers an account opening experience in just 2 minutes and 37 seconds on any device. This will allow your credit union to compete with top neobank, Chime, who in November 2020 alone it opened 400,000 new accounts digitally (Streeter, 2021). 

In this post, we touched on fintechs that offer personalized experiences, digital mortgage journeys, and digital account opening, but there are many other offerings from fintechs that can give your members a more streamlined membership. These include P2P payments, budgeting tools, digital consumer lending, and many more. I recommend looking at Forbes Fintech 50 to generate more ideas and potential partnerships at your credit union. 

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