Independent Banker - April 2017 - 48

Meet the
: Part II
in the subtle ways community banks communicate with
these digital natives, either showing that they truly understand
their customers or inadvertently turning them off.
There are a lot of things not to like about traditional
banks if you're a millennial, according to Tonya Rapley,
a 32-year-old millennial fi nancial educator and the
founder of MyFabFinance.com. Too many banks see this
demographic as a profi t center and aren't vested in their
personal outcomes.
Marketing teams read
studies about what millennials
allegedly want
instead of taking the
time to do any fi rsthand
research or develop a
fresh approach. They
are not as fl exible as
they should be with
millennials' contracts
or freelance jobs.
They don't relate to
them as peers.
And then there's the
" They are not
just going to pick
the bank that is
closest to them with
branches. They are
going to pick the
institution they can
get excited about. "
-ANDREI CHERNY,
ASPIRATION
tone they often use when trying to help.
" A lot of their advice and information feels parent-led
rather than peer-led, " Rapley says. " 'You shouldn't do this.'
'You shouldn't do that.' 'You should know better.' "
She understands just how demoralizing that can feel.
When she was in her 20s, she was in a physically and
fi nancially abusive relationship, one that left her in debt
48 ICBA IndependentBanker April 2017
with a gutted credit score. She repaired her fi nancial life,
and now she coaches other millennials on how they can
stop living paycheck to paycheck and start saving and
planning. Clients are comfortable admitting their mistakes
to her, she says, because she understands how things can
go wrong. She doesn't judge; she just gives encouragement
and empowering advice.
Searching for structure
This message of responsible adulthood resonates much
more with millennials than it would have with baby boomers
at that age, says demographer Neil Howe, who coined
the term " millennial " along with William Strauss in 1991.
He cites the success of insurance company MassMutual's
Society of Grownups campaign, an initiative offering
online fi nancial classes, tools and information. Its subtitle:
Helping You Find Your Inner Adult.
" Boomers wanted to fi nd their inner child and act
out and fi nd their impulsive side that institutions were
suppressing, " Howe says. " Millennials want to fi gure out
the rules. Their parents never told them how to become
grown up. "
One way banks can do that is through mortgage lending,
Howe says. Rather than making it look like the bank is
giving away money like lenders did during the last bubble,
they should position mortgages as a tool that can help customers
be grownups who build long-term wealth.
Another frustration millennials report, according to
Rapley, is when banks change the logo and branding on an
existing product but don't change the guts. While fi ntech
PHOTO: V G AJIC/GETTY IMAGES
http://www.qmags.com/clickthrough.asp?url=http://MyFabFinance.com&id=20215&adid=P48E1
Independent Banker - April 2017

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