Just reading a nesta report for work and came across this gem:
“Not all industries can respond to millenials’ preferences without major disruption e.g. survey evidence identifies banking as industry most likely to be transformed by millennials given perception it is excessively transactional and poorly aligned with their personal values.”
I think this is an understatement. Traditional banks will try and give their marketing a millenial feel (lots of DJs and people with beards drinking coffee etc) without doing the hard yards of getting rid of longstanding rip-off practices and crummy old technology.
It seems a fundamental mistake to attribute the wish for a better bank to ‘millennials’. Common enough though, you see it in reports about Monzo all the time.
Not sure I agree entirely. Yes, people of all ages might have gripes with their banks but I think age is a big factor in how you define a better bank. Younger people live their lives entirely through their phones, and are the earliest adopters of new services like AirBnB. So they welcome the idea of a smartphone bank and expect it to adopt the same conventions as other apps e.g. notifications, instant updates, sharing features etc etc.
Now if you take a hypothetical 55 year old, they probably won’t be living the smartphone life. They will also have different requirements that Monzo will never fulfil e.g. branches, call centre, chequebooks, ability to deposit cash/cheques. They will have major trust issues with trusting their hard-earned to a bunch of complete unknowns. Their idea of a better bank might simply be one where the branch opens late (like Metro Bank) and answers calls on the first ring. They might even be pretty happy with their existing bank because their local branch staff are nice. They would probably rate Monzo as a terrible bank.
BTW I am in my early 40s, I love Monzo and I also do tire of endless articles about millenials!
Again, this is a huge stereotype. I signed up to AirBnB years ago when they first launched and before many people had heard of them.
An example of how persisting with stereotypes makes you look a little silly.
Many people enjoy new ideas and appreciate innovation. I signed up to Monzo in June 2016. A 25yo colleague only found out about it over a year later. He lives his life on his iPhone.
In fact, he’s the only one of my millennial colleagues at work that has a Monzo card. The others are in their forties and one is fifty.
OK, hang on a minute. I said a hypothetical 55 year old. Obviously not everyone is the same. According to these statistics 53% of 55-64s don’t even own a smartphone. Would they be interested in Monzo?
Please don’t throw around words like silly, BS, offensive when I’m merely expressing a viewpoint. It just discourages people from contributing.
You couldn’t be more wrong. I’m 53 and the vast majority of my peers - friends, work colleagues and relatives, live by the smartphone. I’m struggling to think of anyone around my age who doesn’t.
Your comments suggest that you live a very isolated lifestyle, but if I’m wrong you’ll understand how I feel about those comments.
Maybe he has quoted some stats but those sort of observations in this community will both (a) reinforce stereotypes, and (b) alientate and drive away other potential customer groups. If we want Monzo to thrive we have avoid these sorts of posts and be inclusive to all. Otherwise it will become self defeating and narrow Monzo’s userbase and make it not a bank of 1,000,000 customers but a niche bank for millenials only
Defend him as much as you like but while 4 people may have objected to his post on this thread there may be others who were also offended but not posted a retort.
just to clarify as your recent reply to me may imply to others that I said all those things. That was actually a compilation of comments from all those who replied to his post. I personally did not call hin silly or claim he waa isolated.
OK, fair comment. Please accept my apologies. What you wrote doesn’t make you look silly; I think what you wrote is silly.
Age is a protected characteristic. I wouldn’t wish to start making sweeping generalisations based upon other protected characteristics (as that is plain wrong and unacceptable). So I don’t know why it’s acceptable to throw around hackneyed stereotypes in relation to age?
Like another contributor, here, I’m struggling to think of anyone I know that doesn’t use a smartphone. The kids’ grandparents all have iPhones. They’re fully tricked up with technology, these retirees.
Yep, as you say, people are different so not all retirees have smartphones but the generalisations and assumptions that you make from them helps nobody. As said, Monzo can’t be the billion-customer bank on millenials alone ( …awaits someone to produce stats on demographics showing there’s billions of millenials for each retiree )
I’m a 55 year old, that has a smartphone, and do ALL of my banking via the app! In fact, I’ve been with Lloyds 5 years and only been in branch once. I prefer Monzo above every bank I’ve been with, due to the fact they keep you informed & get things done, not like any of the big 4
I said a hypothetical 55 year old. A hypothesis is “a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation” (Google). My hypothetical person is not real.
If I’d said that people over 50 are such Luddites they can’t turn on smartphones, that would be a stereotype, in the same way as saying fat people are lazy. (Please note, neither of those are my beliefs).
There’s also a big difference between evidence and anecdote. If you are a Monzo user on a Monzo forum it is highly likely that people in your circle have similar interests and behaviours around tech. This does not mean that everyone is like that. Everyone I know votes the same way but that doesn’t mean everyone in the country does. People who have taken an anecdotal line of argument here are actually the ones generalising.
You can see from the stats I posted that over half of 55-64s do not own a smartphone. By definition they will not be interested in Monzo. That is just one piece of evidence. I already asked for contrary evidence but none was forthcoming.
All of this could have been avoided with a simple comment to the effect ‘Did you really mean all 55 year olds?’ and I would have been happy to clarify and indeed get into a respectful discussion. Instead I’m told I am being offensive, silly, talking b*******s, isolated, responsible for perpetuating ageist stereotypes, holding back Monzo’s success etc etc. Whatever.
According to these statistics 47% of 55-64s own a smartphone. So that is nearly half of them as potential target customers. It all depends on the glass half empty or glass half full approach. And with an aging UK population that means potentially an increase in ownership in that age group.
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