Survey: "Millennials" have mixed views of online banking

Jordan Golson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:15:40 -0800

Members of the "Millennial generation" -- those aged 18-30 -- prefer to conduct their banking online rather than in a bank branch, according to a Microsoft-sponsored survey conducted by Javelin Strategy. According to the results, Millennials go online for most basic banking transactions such as checking account balances (74 percent) or paying bills (70 percent).

But this doesn't mean young adults are dropping face-to-face interaction with banks altogether. For more complex transactions -- opening a new account (57 percent) and applying for a loan (52 percent) -- Millennials prefer to operate in person.

Still, the results suggest a significant portion of this demographic group are completing complex transactions without walking down to a bank. I also wondered if those applying for loans online have any less of a success rate in obtaining a loan than those who look a bank official in the eye, or deal with the branch manager in person if something goes wrong.

The Microsoft press release announcing the results notes that with banks "eager to attract and retain new customers, particularly the estimated 80 million tech-savvy Millennials," banks should "drive seamless integration across the Web, branches and phone." The press release doesn't note that (presumably expensive) Microsoft enterprise products would help banks accomplish these tasks.

The full survey results are available at http://www.microsoft.com/banking