Independent Banker - October 2019 - 58

to pay for services, says Zimmer, who heads the wealth
management division at Bankers' Bank.
Bankers' Bank has also helped banks develop educational
materials that teach the next generation about wealth
management in a way that's relevant to them. Topics
include fi nancial goal-setting and saving for retirement
from a young age amid competing fi nancial priorities.
Banks are encouraged to use millennial-friendly mediums
such as podcasts and short videos to relay these messages.
The idea, Zimmer says, is to empower younger
customers to pick and choose among the things they
want to learn. Millennials don't always want to come
in for a series of in-person meetings and wade through
stacks of brochures, handouts and paperwork. After all,
many millennials are short on time, with small children,
demanding careers or both. Bank messages, therefore,
need to be steeped in technology. They should be chock full
of information, quick to read or watch, and available at any
point in time, Zimmer says.
Reaching out on all channels
For $500 million-asset Ledyard National Bank in Hanover,
N.H., digital communications have been a major focus in
its eff orts to attract millennials.
For instance, the community bank started publishing
brief monthly and quarterly digital newsletters that are
written in a legible and easily digestible format. The
newsletters address topics like health savings accounts,
taxes, 529 plans and the importance of building fi nancial
wealth. Ledyard National Bank then posts them on
social media sites in the hopes of engaging a younger
crowd online. The web format is important to digital
natives, who often aren't reading printed materials, says
Kathy Underwood, the community bank's president and
chief executive.
The bank has also begun experimenting with the use
of videos on its website, a medium millennials tend to
appreciate. It's also considering how to off er self-directed
investment tools to millennials who want them, in addition
to the array of wealth management services it already
off ers, including brokerage, trust and estate planning, tax
planning and insurance planning.
In addition, Ledyard National Bank off ers a fi nancial
aggregation tool similar to Mint that the bank recently
upgraded with additional functionalities to make it more
user-friendly for tech-savvy customers. And the bank
off ers a socially responsible investing fund, which has
been very popular, particularly with younger investors,
Underwood says.
There are signifi cant opportunities for banks to shift
their marketing to attract millennials, she says. A few years
ago, Ledyard National Bank made the decision to reach out
to the children and grandchildren of existing customers
and branch out from there. " That's what we're in the
process of doing, and you'll start to see more coming from
us in that area, " Underwood says.
The power of combination accounts
Through a series of focus groups,
fintech company SigFig has
found that millennials are often
not investing outside of their
401(k) even though they have
accumulated enough assets to do
so. These focus groups pointed to
a lack of awareness of investment
opportunities that might be
available to them.
" That's the power of community
banks. There's just a big opportunity
there, " says Dan Mercurio, general
manager of banking at SigFig, a
firm in San Francisco that off ers
digital advice platforms to banks.
" The banks that are local to them
have a huge opportunity to present
some of this innovation in a way
that resonates with them. "
One way to attract these assets
to the bank is to off er an account
that more seamlessly integrates
a checking, savings and/or
investment product. It's an idea that
several of SigFig's banking clients
are exploring, Mercurio says.
Certainly, combination accounts
56 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q October 2019
are a growing
trend-even
among fintechs.
Robo-advisory firm Betterment in
New York City recently launched
Betterment Everyday, a savings
platform and checking account. The
checking accounts will be provided
and issued by $719 million-asset
nbkc Bank, a community bank
based in Kansas City, Mo. The
off ering represents the roboadvisor's
first foray into traditional
banking products.
Independent Banker - October 2019

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