VESTED RESEARCH SERIES 2017

MILLENNIALS AND MONEY Why these whiners are ignoring your marketing campaigns

Millennial MONEY STUDY

Visit http://fullyvested.com/millennial-study for a digital copy of this report

INSIDE:

WHY STILL LOVE THE MOST POPULAR WHY MILLENNIALS CARE ABOUT DATA 01 BRICK & MORTAR BANKS 02 FINTECH APPS OF 2017 03 SECURITY BUT NOT DATA PRIVACY

TRUST IN THE TRUMP ECONOMY WHO’S AFRAID OF THE FINANCIAL WELLS FAR-TO-GO: MILLENNIALS 04 05 CRISIS? MILLENNIALS 10 YEARS ON 06 & FINANCIAL SCANDALS VESTED RESEARCH SERIES VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY When we parse this population across gender, income, race/eth- Need more convincing that lumping all Millennials together is a WHAT IS A nicity, educational background, and geography, is there a mean- business mistake for marketers? Here’s a perfect example: One ingful difference where trust, awareness, use, and adoption of would think that this cohort is all in for cloud banking, but you’d MILLENNIAL? banking products are concerned? be making a grave mistake. More than half (59%!) are currently not open to moving from traditional branch banking to “cloud Spoilers: We wouldn’t raise the question if it weren’t the case at banking.” That’s leaving lot of money on the table. least some of the time. So, YES. In many cases, women and men Millennials have vastly different relationships to money, decision-making, While even Gen X’ers place a lot of emphasis on data privacy perspectives about innovation, what, and who they trust. The (avoiding a product like Venmo because of social sharing), they 80s-90s same can be said for different income levels: the aspirational have a far more sophisticated take on their data health (reject- babies and the affluent oftentimes have radically different outlooks ing a product because it’s been hacked like a Hotmail account). and behaviors where banks and products are concerned. In fact, we found that data hygiene is Millennials’ #1 criteria for and money selecting a banking product. Of course, any generational cohort that is so unwieldy in size contains a multitude of opinions and approaches­—in fact, In this study we will look closely at legacy banking versus its Millennials are now the largest living , according to online counterpart. We’ll take the pulse of conventional prod- Pew. In this survey, we show that there are substantive differ- ucts (cash, debit, and credit cards) and look closely at a range Why these whiners are ignoring ences between the mindsets of the youngest (20–24) and oldest of innovative products including Venmo, Mint, Square, Stash, DIGITAL (30–35) Millennials. and PayPal. We’ll share our findings about the decision-making your marketing campaigns native process that goes into product discovery and adoption, explain While much has been written about this of late (C.f. Jesse Millennial loyalty to branch banking, and offer guidance on how Singal’s recent New York Magazine article on self-identifying as to reach this cohort with greater success: an “Old Millennial”), it is also at play with regard to financial atti- For those who practice the dark arts of Where earning, investing, career, and tudes and behaviors. Understanding, for example, that women • How might we move over half of all Millennials into the cloud marketing, April 2017 marked a demo- economic outlook are concerned, are they are far less trusting of Trump or that men and the affluent are banking space? graphic turning point. For the first time, risk-takers or risk-averse? Are they more far more influenced by their networks, informs how by sheer numbers, Millennials eclipsed trusting of innovation and, perhaps, less we design and market products and whether we succeed or fail • Given that 1 in 5 Millennials is moving to the sidelines where their generational counterparts, Baby open to institutions? Are they bullish or A.K.A. in reaching this population. the stock market is concerned in the age of Trump, what offerings Boomers and Gen Xer’s. Since then, we’ve bearish about the next five years? And, in might otherwise capture their interest? been inundated with all manner of stories regards to the current political climate, generation Y We hope that our findings will jump start a conversation on attempting to own the Millennial beat. To does this Trump moment portend an im- how fintech products can best be deployed. In some cases, This crucible of fintech is a test for financial marketers, but also a great extent, however, the narrative has pending change in their behavior? our findings reinforce general findings about Millennials (for an incredible opportunity. The outlook, behavior, and needs of been anecdotal, imprecise, and often flat - example, they do seem to change jobs often), but in other cases, Millennials combined with the agility and granularity of technol- out wrong. where personal service IRL (in real life) is concerned, they are as ogy demands new approaches. Our findings are actionable, and traditional as . In some cases, more so. we look forward to discourse and debate over implementation Before embarking on this study we wanted and interpretation of strategy. to answer a broad, expansive question, given a financial lens:

Are Millennials really so different than their Boomer and X’er counterparts?

Given that even the oldest Millennial is a Digital Native—potentially more connect- ed than any prior generation in history— how does this inform their financial lives? MILLENNIALS ARE NOW What is their relationship to money? Their relationship to earning and saving? To legacy and innovative banking products? THE LARGEST LIVING Do they prefer “cloud banking” (banks without physical branches or ATM’s) to “terra banks” (brick and m ortar ? ltradi- GENERATION. tional branches)? Photo credit: Shutterstock – Pew Survey on Millennials and Trust

1 2 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Why Our frame ask why? Before we parsed atti- This seems to inform how Photo credit: Shutterstock tudes about products, we Square, Stash, Venmo, and first wanted to index trust. other products have been What do Millennials think of marketed as “tech products”, Uncertainty financial institutions com- rather than bank products. This study begins from a place of curiosity: pared to their outlook on the We suspect, then, that trust media, technology compa- in technology—as opposed nies, and the government? to banking—is a driving force We found much uncertain- What relationships do Millennials (aged 20–35) have to legacy and innovative How does this trust—or behind the explosive success ty where the economy is financial products and banks? skepticism—then inform their of a range of fintech products. concerned, with the most decision-making process sanguine respondents being Where does this cohort place its trust? What does it think of institutions? where financial products are male and affluent—despite concerned? Influence telling us that both these What is the outlook of this generation, and how might it inform how financial demographics were the most Financial products are created and marketed to them? While it is striking that this affected during the 2008 sub- generation does not innately prime market collapse. That perks After gathering a number of baseline data points (gauging awareness of ALL banking trust their peers, our findings Social proof is a recent phe- said, women are particularly products and banks), we decided to probe inside the heads and hearts of Millennials: were much “healthier” than nomenon where we can mea- mistrustful about how Trump recent studies by outlets might handle the economy. sure the influence of social • Why and how do they make their financial decisions? such as Pew. What is inter- networks on decision-making Our respondents told us— esting is that while big banks and behavior. We learned 88% of them—that they are • What was their criteria for financial product adoption? are among the least trusted that the more money Mil- more willing to adopt inno- of institutions among this lennials made, the more that vative banking products if • Were they confident about the economy? cohort, “big tech” is the most they were influenced by their they are offered more perks, trusted—despite the chronic social networks to choose premiums, and loyalty points. • In terms of their career and financial outlook, are they cautious, hacks and privacy blunders banking products. Also, While vendors like Square or risk takers? that have assaulted us all at men overall were far more have begun to roll this out, • Do they trust Trump in terms of financial leadership? one point in time or another. likely—almost twice so—to be this is a validation that the influenced by their networks investment has ROI. as women.

3 4 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Sample details EMPLOYMENT STATUS 16% 14% 65%

1% 1% 2% A breakdown of the Millennials we surveyed 700+ CREDIT SCORE: PATCHWORKSTUDENT OF JOBSSTUDENT P/T UNEMPLOYED F/T PART-TIMEFULL-TIME EMPLOYED EMPLOYED 55% (SELF-REPORTED) 401 total participants

80% WHITE AGE RANGE: 20-35, BROKEN INTO THREE SEGMENTS:

% female 12% ASIAN 67 20-24 25-29 30-35 EDUCATION YEARS YEARS YEARS ETHNICITY 7% AFRICAN-AMERICAN 58% BACHELOR’S <1% NATIVE % male DEGREE OR 33 MARITAL HIGHER STATUS $50,000- MARRIED SINGLE DIVORCED 74,999 61% 35% 2% $75,000- GEOGRAPHY $32,500- 99,999 $100,000- 49,999 124,999 NORTHEAST: 24% $125,000 + MIDWEST: 26% WEST: 17% CITIES: 71% SOUTH: 32% NON-CITIES: 29% % % % 25% 30 21 13 11%

HOUSEHOLD INCOME 5 6 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Survey says... Photo credit: Shutterstock

Initially, we tested the awareness of the Breaking it down further according to: To sum up, older Millennials, the more af- Q: Have you heard of the Wells Q: Do you expect another Income: At the upper edges of the income 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS as well as the fluent, and males reported that they were Fargo scandal, where bank financial crisis in the next five brackets—above $100K—43% of respon- degree to which study participants were Age much more affected by 2008 than their employees were registering years? dents believed the economy was in for a personally impacted. • Those who indicated—at 63%—that counterparts. customers for additional world of hurt (vs. 33% overall). they were completely unaffected were the products without their consent? Our participants were split. While 33% We then asked our respondents if they youngest slice of the cohort: 20–24’s. This is where the age differences within expect another financial crisis—not just Age: Uncertainty about the economy was had closely followed the still unravelling our cohort are telling; a logical explanation While the subprime debacle was nearly a bear market—43% were unsure, while most present among the youngest slice of Wells Fargo kerfuffle. Finally, we queried • Those who were seriously affected were concerns the 2008 ages of the “younger” ten years ago, and thus was less likely to 23% are bullish about a robust economy. the cohort, those aged 20–24 (at 53% vs. our participants to offer a forecast for the represented by 14% of 30–35’s. and “older” Millennials in question. In affect younger Millennials, Wells Fargo is 43%). economy. 2008, our 22 year olds were 13 years old, just months behind us. It appears that this uncertainty does bear Income barely aware of the financial world, but tracking, particularly among women, the Geographical: Uncertainty about the WHO’S AFRAID OF A BUBBLE? • High earners, at $100K+ and above, perhaps covetous of their mother’s shiny Topline: Overall, 70% heard of the event. youngest segment of Millennials, the most economy is present in 61% of those who were more likely to have been somewhat or new iPhone. Whereas, a 34 year old was Recognition increased with age, from a affluent, and those living outside cities. are non-city dwellers vs. just 36% of city Q: Were You Affected By the seriously affected—at 41%. then 25 years old and new to the job mar- plurality of 59% to 66% to 74% across our dwellers. 2008 Banking Crisis? ket, when the Great Recession occurred. three age segments. Gender: Women were significantly more • Of the most affluent income bracket, uncertain about the economy: 49% vs. How do these events and personal out- Millennials—despite their relative youth 33% of the $125,000+’s told us that they Generally, the more the affluent, the more 32% of men. Men were more than twice looks affect where the Millennials place SOMEWHAT UNAFFECTED —were indeed affected by the 2008 had been seriously affected by this event. OR SERIOUSLY participants were aware. This ranged from as likely to be confident in the ongoing their trust? subprime loan banking crisis, particularly AFFECTED 48% a low of 65% among the aspirationals to strength of our economy (36% vs. 17%). those who are older and more affluent. Gender 80% among the highest earners. That is, despite being burnt in 2008. We asked. They also tended to be disproportionately • 44% of men told us that they had been 44% NON-CITY male. somewhat or seriously affected, as com- Gender made no difference in awareness. DWELLERS pared to 22% of women. Topline: In broad strokes, 71% of our 38% Finally, city dwellers were slightly more CITY survey said that they were not affected, • In the most dire of categories, 24% of aware of the imbroglio than their counter- DWELLERS SERIOUSLY or inconvenienced at a minimum, by the men said that they had been seriously AFFECTED parts, at 73% v. 61%. event. In turn, 29% of our respondents affected, as compared to 5% of women. were seriously or somewhat affected by 24% Given the events of 2008 and 2016, 2008.Parsing overall categories: • 48% of women indicated that they were 22% we then decided to gauge our survey’s unaffected as compared to 38% of men. confidence in the economy over the next • 11% said they had been seriously five years: 36% 61% affected. • 29% “somewhat + serious” combined 5% • 44% were unaffected MEN WOMEN WHICH MILLENNIALS FEEL UNCERTAIN • 27% were affected at a minimum. ABOUT THE ECONOMY?

7 8 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Photo credit: Shutterstock Trust in fellow man Trust in institutions

Rationale: We were interested in finding The result of this survey question is in con- Circling back to the Four-Year forecast, we Q: Which institutions do you Q: What institutions do you a trust baseline for this generation—a trast with a Pew study on Millennials and can speculate that distrust might inform trust the most? trust the least? prism with which to access their per- trust from 2014, which was consequently the lack of confidence that younger Mil- spective, before extrapolating a look written up by the Washington Post. This lennials and women have in the economy, While big banks, the government, and the • The press and the government are in a at trust in institutions and loyalty to study had the benefit of comparing Mil- but affluent Millennials do not. These high press are out of the public’s good graces, tie for least trusted at 34%, with 41% of financial products and brands. lennials with Generation Xers and Young earners were bearish about the economy, (despite frequent hacks across all brows- our youngest Millennials distrusting the Baby Boomers. Also looking at 2008, yet the most trusting across income levels. ers and operating systems), Millennials press. While distrust in media waned with We asked participants to select which among other benchmarks, their Millennials can’t quit “Big Tech” (definition of the income, wages were otherwise unrelated statement most closely reflected their were markedly less trusting than their latter: companies like Apple, Amazon, where other institutions were concerned. point of view: counterparts. Facebook, and Google). WHICH MILLENNIALS ARE • Big Banks are only trusted by 24% of WHICH MILLENNIALS TRUST TRUSTING OF OTHERS? BIG TECH COMPANIES? • Most people can be trusted The authors of the study theorized that • Among the four institutions we queried, those surveyed. (growing) economic inequality informs Big Tech was the most trusted at 34%. • You can’t be too careful when dealing a less trusting disposition among Mil- Whites trusted Big Tech significantly more • Big Tech is only found to be “least trust- with people lennials, which can certainly inform how than non-whites: 37% v 22%. worthy” by 8% of our sample. we analyze attitudes and behaviors of Turns out, 43% showed themselves to those in our survey who are female, less • The government is the next most trusted While these findings are in line with be innately trusting. However, 57% are educated, have less earning power, and are 43% at 25%. Among 25–29’s, trust in the Edelman’s annual survey on trust across 37% cautious, following the motto: “trust but non-white (in short, those more likely to INNATELY TRUSTING government fell to 16%, significantly less major industries, our results were starker. WHITE verify.” experience wealth inequality). than either their younger or older peers. It might be comparing apples and orang- MILLENNIALS The most affluent in our survey trusted the es, but they pegged trust in “financial MILLENNIALS Let’s break this down: One point raised by Eric Uslaner, the Federal government at 18%, versus 25% services” lower than any other industry primary investigator of the Pew study, overall. in their sample—at 54%, compared to our • The younger the millennial, the less is that “there is no relationship between 21% that said, “our sample held Tech, Gov, trusting: 20–24: 35%; 25–29: 37%; 30–35: use and trust.” He believes that • The press is only trusted by 21% of those and Media in far lower esteem than Edel- 49% (so much for young and naive). he’s proven this; however his premise that polled. man’s general population survey.” “most of our interactions on the internet 57% • We also recorded that as income rises, are with people we know” is incorrect. This • Coming in at last is the Big Banks at We’ve now garnered a sense of what our 22% TRUSTING, BUT CAUTIOUS default trust follows, from 34% to 61%. discounts the existence and frequency of 20%. survey participants know about the finan- NON-WHITE the “weak ties” we encounter across our MILLENNIALS cial world as well as their trust and confi- • Millennial males are noticeably more social networks. Depending if one is ha- Given the state of our Federal Govern- dence in their peers and in institutions. MILLENNIALS trusting than women, showing a nearly rassed or supported, trust can be affected ment—at time of publication, early in the twenty point gap, 58% vs. 36% by internet experiences. Trump term—it’s eye-popping that the Big Banks remain this unpopular.

9 10 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY DEBIT WHICH 38% PAYMENT PRODUCTS DO CREDIT YOU USE THE 34% MOST? PAYPAL Products: 19% a deep dive

Interrogating product awareness and We then took a deep dive into each of the Parsing these: choices exposed some interesting distinc- financial products. Let’s first begin with tions in the attitudes and perspectives awareness. • 32%: Ease of use regarding the importance participants attached to concepts such as “innovation,” While we’ve compared innovative banking • 19%: Convenience (we presume that this as well as “data hygiene” and “data priva- products against one another, here we meant “easily accessible” to our respon- cy.” We looked at financial products from a also look across all categories—including dents) myriad of perspectives using the following debit, credit, and cash: questions: • 16%: Rewards: 10% + 6% (points + Q: Which products do you use cashback) • Which financial products are you the most? aware of? • 9%: Safe/secure • Debit cards are used by 38% of our • Which have you used? sample. Debit card usage falls with age and • 8%: Ubiquitous. Product is accepted wage. Significantly fewer men use debit everywhere • Which do you use the most? more than women: 26% vs. 44%. • 7%: Product is “cool” • How frequently? • Overall, credit cards are favored by 34% of our respondents. The popularity of cred- •5%: Fast/quick • Why would you, or would you not, it is inverse to debit. Credit cards usage choose a product? grows with age and income. •5%: Online

• If given the option, which product would • PayPal is surprisingly strong at 19%. •5%: Link to bank you choose to use the most? Those who favor PayPal skews younger (20–24) more affluent, and male. •5%: Track monies • While word of mouth has always been important, how much influence does social Q: Why do you use this •3%: Always available media have? payment method the most? •2%: Budgeting • Can Millennials be incentivized to try Our participants provided a range of basic something new (such as tipping with reasons. •1%: Builds credit Square), or are they too savvy to be manip- ulated? •1%: Do not carry cash

* a dozen other reasons

11 Photo credit: Shutterstock12 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES 73% WHICH MILLENNIALS LIKE CREDIT CARD PERKS AND REWARDS?

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY 57%

Photo credit: Shutterstock Hack, not track Plastic fantastic

Q: What criteria is most • Transfer time of funds comes in at 9%. • Credit and Men: Men prefer credit to Before we move into looking at innovative • Visa: 3% To speculate, perhaps this is because high important when selecting a Quick access to monies is most important debit (39% to 26%). banking products, we wanted to first cap- earners tend to use credit cards more banking product? to men (14%) and highest earners (15%). ture the state of play in credit cards, since • Wells Fargo: 1% frequently than debit cards, and so credit [This is counterintuitive. We’d expect the • Debit and Women: Women have the they remain a top preference as a payment scores have greater relevance to these At 32%, data safety—or data hygiene—is lower income brackets to prioritize this, opposite relationship with debit cards— option. • Other MasterCard: 1% users. the #1 reason Millennials gave for choos- but this isn’t so.] preferring them to credit (33% vs. 17%). ing a banking product. What is noteworthy Although 28% of our sample preferred • Fidelity/Barclays: all under 1% Speaking of credit card scores, just as is that data privacy is generally twinned • Innovation in a product has bearing — • Cash—favored by 12% of our partici- to use credit cards, we drilled down to we’ve tried to gauge our sample’s outlook, with data safety. Here privacy is almost but far less so among women. pants—slightly declines with older millen- find out which banks occupy the greatest Note: 17% of those surveyed don’t use later on, we’ll look at their financial fitness: dead last as a rationale, at 8%. nial survey participants. mindshare and why a particular card was any credit cards. Student loan debt, credit scores, and bal- This might show that Millennials expect chosen. ance repayment behavior. The 20–24 segment of our Millennials that every new product implies innovation, • It is surprising how unpopular Square Q: Why do you use this credit were most concerned about data hygiene and that the term is met with skepticism, is for this question—it polls less popularly Q: Which credit cards do you card most often? Having developed a context for legacy (12%), as were the less affluent (12%), and but it also speaks to a sizable percentage than remittances, checks and even Bitcoin! use most often? banking products, let’s focus on innova- women (9%). of Millennials who might be classed as (6 people would use Bitcoin as compared 1 • 67% of those surveyed told us they use tive banking products. “young fogies.” (Note: We’ve read that respondent.) • Chase dominates: The aggregates of its their credit card most often because of Who is privacy important to? The less with this generation coming up during various products reaches 35%+. rewards and perks. Women find rewards affluent (12%) and younger Millennials 9/11 and the subprime crisis, they are in- Note: Venmo wasn’t in the mix for some even more compelling (73%) than men (12%) vs. the well-to-do, until we arrive vesting in the stock market with too much reason. • Chase Freedom is used most often of (57%). Rewards become more important as at highest income threshold where there caution—as if they were 70+ year olds.) each type at 20%. income rises (64%—0%). is an uptick in concern for data privacy at 13%. [While it’s been reported that Amer- Q: If given the choice, which • Capital One: 25% (combining its Plati- • Easy sign-up is important to 48% of our icans don’t care about their data safety is payment option do you prefer? num + Secured MasterCard) sample. Apparently, getting this transac- concerned, this group does. Pointedly.] tion right carries dividends. • Debit, credit cards, and PayPal are al- • Citi: 5% • Convenience at 26% occupies the second most equally preferred (28%/28%/29%). • Interest rates are important to only pole position. Those at the $100K– • Bank of America: 2% 28% of our poll. The importance of rates $124,999 income level attach the greatest • PayPal grows in favor as income rises, increases with age (20%—30%). importance, at 37%. from a low of 15% to a high of 37%. • Discover: 5% It is also much more favored among men • Free credit card score check (which is • At 19%, reputation is a factor in decision (40% vs. 23%). • First Premier: 5% free to all) is a dealmaker to 25% of our making. study. This is even more important for • Ink Business: 3% higher incomes (37% and 39% for the $100K and $125K brackets, respectively). • American Express: 3%

13 14 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Photo credit: Shutterstock Awareness Usage

Q: Which of the following • Mint was familiar to 49% of our survey. Q: Which of the following Note: the highest users of Mint and Stash products have you heard of? Mint’s strongest appeal is at $100K (innovative banking) products are the most affluent in our sample. earners and above, with 59% of 25–29’er have you used? At 99%, PayPal is as ubiquitous to this co- Millennials vs. 49% overall. We’re now ready to take a closer look hort as cash once was, and credit/debit is. • PayPal leaves all other products in the at each innovative banking product, and Name recognition is 100% among above • Stash clocked in at 14%. While all other dust, with 93% of respondents signaling following that, banks themselves. $100K earners. products have relatively similar appeal to that they had used it. In no category— both genders, investment-vehicle Stash across age segment, income, or gender— At the outset, we queried product aware- Rewards are important; respondents told lags with women. It’s known to 20% of did it reach less than 90%. ness and asked after usage. Finally, we asked our respondents to tell us which us that perks and loyalty solutions could men, but just 12% of women. PAYPAL PAYPAL persuade them to try new products like 100% • Square is a distant second when it comes products they had used. 93% Venmo. to past usage. While 28% of participants had used the service, usage is gendered— a Based on this, for each innovative banking • We polled participants on their aware- 32% of women have used Square, while product we drilled down to three ques- ness across the category of “innovative just 19% of men had. tions: banking products” — excepting credit, debit, cash, and check. • Venmo has been used by 21% of respon- 1. How did you discover X? dents. • Square’s awareness at 61% takes second 2. Was it easy to use X (“How did it make SQUARE pole position and is particularly strong at • Chase QuickPay has been used by 20% you feel”)? 61%

the highest income level where 74% know CHASE QUICKPAY of our sample. VENMO the brand. MINT 54% 3. Why did you use X? 52% 49% • Likewise, 20% of our study have tried • Household name Chase comes in third Mint. (30% of our most affluent respon- SQUARE 28% with their QuickPay, known to 54% of this dents) VENMO CHASE QUICKPAY MINT sample. As with Mint below, its strongest 21% appeal is with 25–29’s. (Chase QuickPay • While Stash had only been used by 4% 20% 20% was known to more non-whites than the of the sample, we discovered that it was STASH overall sample: 65% vs. 54%.) most appealing to highest income bracket 14% ($125k+) at 13%. STASH 4%

MILLENNIAL FAMILIARITY WITH MILLENNIAL USE OF PAYMENTS PRODUCTS PAYMENTS PRODUCTS

15 16 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Photo credit: Shutterstock PayPal Square

Q: How did you discover PayPal? Q: Why did you use PayPal? • 12% chose PayPal because of vendor Q: How did you discover Square? Q: Was it easy to use Square? • 5%: “it was cool” acceptance [Women: Men 15:7]. Paypal is nearly ubiquitous to this popula- As with a few other products, the answers Discovery: Takeaway: 91% told us that Square was • 5%: to pay someone I owed money tion, but how is it best reaching them? were granular. • 9% transfer person to person, (P2P). • Word of mouth—at 49%—was the top easy to use. response in our survey. There was a bit of • 4%: fast • Word of mouth is 56%. The original use case for PayPal was as • 7% found the platform “cool.” Many a gendered response. Women—at 54%— Age: This rose to 100% among the a seamless, global payment solution for more were men than women: [12 v. 4%]. were much more likely to have heard about 20–24’s. • 4%: other • Asked to download to transact: a whop- eBay. eBay remains the most popular Square than Men at 40%. ping 48% (more than ads or social media). reason for product use. • 5% saw it as convenient. Income: The higher the income, the easier • 3%: safe/trusted • Advertising followed at 46%. In this case, they found it to use. 69% climbed to 100%. • Social media at 44%. Note: Women are twice as likely to use • 3% believe PayPal to be quick . 53% of men learned of Square versus 42% • 3%: good fees/rates PayPal for its core use and other online of women. • “I didn’t think about it” hit 10% among • Ads at 43% (and are more effective as purchases. “Coolness” (like innovation) • 3% chose it because they don’t have to the oldest age segment. Perhaps the older • 2%: my only option income rises). was a factor for men, far less so for wom- enter personal info (presumably re-enter • Social media drew 37% overall. the user, the more they found it “instinc- en. personal info). tual”? • 2%: no cash on hand Q: Was it easy to use PayPal? • ”Asked to download to transact” hit 22% • 21% used PayPal for eBay. This percent- • 2% used PayPal to simply make a pay- of all participants. • While it was deemed “hard to use” for • 2%: convenient (If we combine this with • Was it easy to use PayPal? 92% thought age increases with age and decreases with ment. just 2% overall, this finding rose to 8% both “fast” and “ease” we reach 18%) so, with $32,500–$49,999’s finding it income. • Social media and word of mouth spiked among the lowest-income segment. 100% easy. • 2% decided on PayPal because it’s a well- for the 25–29’s at 47%, and 53%, respec- • 1%: recommended • 18% favored PayPal for all online pur- known/established product. tively. Q: Why did you use Square? • Just 6% didn’t think about the down- chases. Women did so 31% of the time, vs. • 1%: reliable loading process, while 20–24’s were three 11% for men. • 1% used PayPal with the “Ibotta” app. • This segment is slightly less interested in • 17%: used it for their small businesses times as likely not to think about down- ads for Square: 40% vs. 46% of the overall. • 1%: free to use loading PayPal. • 16% chose PayPal because it was easy Note: PayPal published a Money Habits • 51%: women said that they used it to use. Study back in 2015, and found that their Employment: 37% of part-time folks because it was widely accepted, compared Note: ethnicity/race: 49% of whites found • Only 2% of the sample thought it was Millennials (18–35) participated in P2P learned about Square through being to 28% of men. merchants that took it, vs. 26% of non- hard. However, perhaps since the prod- • 13% found it safe/secure/trusted. banking nearly twice as frequently as their asked to download the app, much high- whites. uct is so omnipresent, this small number Young Boomers (32% vs. 17%). The study er than their full-time and unemployed • 46%: merchants use it shouldn’t be ignored. • 12% used it for their small business doesn’t otherwise overlap with ours, but it counterparts (averaging 22%). Just under needs—women at 14% and men at 7%. is an informative read. 40% succumbed via Advertising, which • 17%: for my business to transact This lags as compared to Square, given is still quite a distance from the 49% who PayPal’s ubiquity. learned about it via word of mouth. We • 12%: ease expected that Square would outperform Venmo across social media, and perhaps, • 6%: to make a payment the “download-to-transact” prompt. 17 Let’s see if that’s the case. 18 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Photo credit: Shutterstock Venmo Stash

Q: How did you discover Q: Was it easy to use Venmo? To parse: Perhaps at higher income levels Q: How did you discover Stash? • Word of mouth was very low at 31%. It Q: Why did you use Stash? Venmo? the use case of splitting a dinner tab or a was also gendered. While it reached 31% Overall: movie becomes negligible? Recall, while Stash was familiar to 14% of overall, when parsed it was 44% male Noting that this is a small sample—only • Pole position went to word of mouth at • 93%: easy our sample, it has been used by only 4% of and only 19% women. When we look at 14 had tried Stash—it does not seem that 50% (virtually the same as Square). Word • 20%: ease the participants, skewing affluent. geography it reached 35% in the cities, but Stash has connected with users. of mouth grows with income: 39% at • 5%: didn’t think about just 17% in non-cities. $32,500+ to 68% at $125k+. • 10%: Vendors offer Venmo For Stash, social media seems to be the • 29% of users tried the product because • 2%: hard most successful strategy, especially for • Asked-to-download-to-transact came in they had heard that it was “cool” or “excel- • Neck and neck was social media at • 9%: product recommended connecting with urban dwellers, males, at 21%—at the same level as Venmo. Given lent.” 49%. As one might expect, given the core Parsing ease: and higher earners, but also those with that Stash isn’t about transacting, this proposition of Venmo, it leaves Square in This shot up to 100% among 25–29’s. • 7%: it’s “cool” aspirational incomes. response might be a bit low. This directly • Ease of use attracted 14% of surveyed. the dust. increases with income, jumping from 10% Among 30–35’s, 12% didn’t think about • 5%: didn’t have cash Compared to other innovative products: to 33%. While word of mouth was less • A sizable 14% did not know or refused to • Advertising is a distant third at 28%; the download experience (vs. 5% average.) important to non-city dwellers, ask-to- respond. much less popular than Square. • 4%: use for their small business • At 60%, social media was far and away download polled at 33% vs. 17% for city This pops: the most popular solution for learning dwellers. • It was described as “Best Online Bank” • Asked-to-download to transact came in Within 20–24’s 17% found it hard to • 4%: convenient about Stash. While it’s not a straight for 7%. at 20%. understand. line, awareness seems to be function of Q: Was it easy to use Stash? • 2%: quick/fast income. At the lowest income level, 40% • 7% of respondents came to Stash be- Note: There are some substantive differ- Q: Why did you use Venmo? of participants found out about Stash Stash was easy to use for 83% of our sam- cause of a website advertisement. ences based on geography. • 1%: fees are good through social media. While this drops ple. For 17%, it was intuitive. Zero percent P2P payment overall is chosen 55% of the at the $75K to $99,999 level, it spikes at found it hard. While word of mouth is equally strong time. • 10% of 30–35’s, 19% of males refused 88% at $100,000+, and then at 67% at between city and non-city dwellers, social to answer $125,000—the two highest income levels. Note: There were no answers from the media reaches urbanites disproportionate- Income: This reason drops as income 20-24 age range for this question. (It ly at 52% vs. 38%. Additionally, 23% of city rises, from 63% to 45%. • Advertising brought 52% of our survey appears one person had tried Stash in that dwellers are asked to download to use vs. takers to Stash. Interestingly, at each segment, but did not weigh in.) 9% non-city dwellers, respectively, caus- Gender: Women 62% vs. men 41% end of the income spectrum, it was most ing one to theorize that Venmo is either effective. At $32,500–$49,999, 80% unavailable or unknown, in the exurbs. Age: P2P peaks with the youngest age became aware of Stash, while this was true segment: 73% of 20–24’s. for 75% of earners at the $125,000+ level. Advertising reached the youngest of the Millennials at 62%, as compared to 52% overall.

19 20 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY Mint

Q: How did you discover Mint? Q: Was it easy to use Mint? While only 6% of respondents found Mint “cool”, this spiked at 17% for the $75,000– Adoption of Mint follows a slightly Mint certainly has more features than the $99,999’s. different pattern than the other banking other products we investigated in this sur- products we interrogated in this survey. vey. That said, it’s worthwhile to examine • 6% used Mint just to see how it works In order of popularity, our respondents to what extent users found Mint complex: discovered Mint through advertisements • 6% chose it to pay their bills (45%), social media (43%), and then word • Just 78% found the solution easy to use. of mouth (40%). It should be acknowl- This dropped down to 55% for the 25–29’s • 4% tried it because it was easy edged that Mint is a different kind of product, for managing finances rather • Gender also played a role. Whereas 87% • 3% came by way of recommendation than transactions. Still as we later look at of men found it easy to use, that figure was solvency—student loan debt, credit card 67% with women. • 1% chose Mint because they thought it balances, etc.—it’s helpful to dive into this was secure product and see how it is used. • Interestingly, 22% didn’t think about the processing of downloading it. That figure • 1% relied on Mint’s convenience • At 45%, advertising is the most effective rose to 33% for women, who seem to be means of connecting in our survey. This saying that it was easy, if not intuitive, • 1% downloaded it to pay a bill was particularly true of the 20–24’s, where whereas just 13% of men answered affir- 64% found out about Mint. matively. • 1% found Mint the “best online bank”

• Social media reached 43% of our respon- • No one explicitly said he/she found Mint Employment: Of those who loved the dents, capturing more men than women hard to understand. tool (6% on average), the figure doubled to (54% vs. 38%). 12% when the respondent was unem- Q: Why did you use Mint? ployed. The same distinction was true • Word of mouth was resonant for 40% of where trying Mint out of curiosity: those our participants, particularly those in the The most popular response is hardly a who were unemployed did so twice as $100K–$124,999 income range (at 62%). surprise: 45% use Mint to track expenses. frequently, at 12% Budgeting closely followed at 28%. • Only 14% learned about Mint after being Geography: asked to download it for a payment. Men • In both use cases, women outpace men. Non-city dwellers used Mint for budgeting were nearly 3 times as likely to have dis- In tracking expenses, 52% of women use at a rate of 53% vs. 21% for city dwellers. covered Mint in this manner, 25% vs. 9%. Mint v. 31% of men. Where budgeting is concerned, this also ranks highly for wom- Race & Ethnicity: en at 38%, but far less so for men at 8%. Whites used Mint almost twice as much for budgeting as non-whites, or 32% vs. • It seems a bit high—at 8%—that folks did 17%. not like or use the platform. This is less true at the income levels of $32,500–$49,999 and $75,000–$99,999.

21 Photo credit: Shutterstock22 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Chase QuickPay

Q: How did you discover Chase Among those in the $75,000–$99,999 • 13% believed that QuickPay was quick/ QuickPay? income bracket, 20% didn’t think about fast. the process. We asked what particular credit cards • 12% found it to be easy to use. were used by our survey takers and Q: Why did you use Chase learned that Chase has overwhelming QuickPay? ​• 3% chose it out of convenience. mindshare where plastic is concerned. It stands to reason that they have leveraged • P2P payments account for 27% of those ​• 1% used it simply to make a payment. their brand with “first mover advantage”— polled (as compared to 55% for Venmo). among legacies—in the P2P space. • 8% of respondents tried QuickPay in Similar to Venmo, QuickPay is most order to track bills. This climbed to 14% While QuickPay is trying to be a new- appealing to the youngest segment of among the youngest age segment (20-24’s) fangled product, Chase seems to be our sample, (43% with 20–24’s) as well as in our survey. marketing it—or it is being received—in a those from lowest income bracket (43% traditional manner. That is, while word of for the $32,500–$49,999’s). • 6% chose QuickPay based on merchant mouth and social media are the most pop- acceptance. ular ways that our survey takers discover • Those who already bank with Chase new products, far and away advertising —15% on average—have adopted Quick- • 5% downloaded QuickPay just to see brought QuickPay to the attention of Pay. It appears that Chase is most success- how it works. our respondents (at 60%). Only 38% of fully reaching its youngest (and most likely participants learned of QuickPay via word its newest) customers, 20–24’s­—at 29%. • Among those who weren’t aware of of mouth, while social media reached just Chase QuickPay or refused to answer— 26% of those surveyed. • Trying a product “just to see how it 8% overall— males were more resistant works” isn’t always a “one and done.” (19%), as were 20–24’s (14%) and income Note: word of mouth peaks within the While this clocked in at 5% on average, levels that fell between $50k–$75,000 highest earning segment (52% vs. 38%). it registered at 14% for those 20–24’s, (17%). who we just showed above as more likely Q: Was it easy to use Chase to try QuickPay because they already bank QuickPay? with Chase.

Remarkable findings: 94% of our respon- • Overall, QuickPay was adopted by nearly dents told us that the product was easy 30% of users for mundane tasks, ones that to use, while 6% said that they didn’t think can ultimately replace terrestrial banking. about the process.

23 Photo credit: Shutterstock24 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES Note: We failed to ask if deposits and • Geography: There is much higher That said, there are certain age and in- withdrawals were ever combined,​​​​ or if resistance from folks who live outside of come segments which offer answers that these customers also did mobile/online cities: 69% as compared to 54%, who told depart from the overall group. deposits. us that they were NOT interested in cloud banking. • Easy access to withdraw/deposit monies Problem Solved: ​​​Those who otherwise tops our answers: while 28% of our partic- MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY visited told us that 16% of the time, it’s to REASONS: ipants believe that cloud banking would resolve an ​​​​issue. Interestingly, while only not provide them with on-demand access 6% of respondents who are less affluent ​​​​ Q: Why would you—of those to their money, for those earning between visit to resolve a problem, the frequency 41%—join an online bank? $50–$74,999K and $75,000–$99,999K, climbs with income to 25% for those​​​​ who this anxiety is more pronounced at 30% earn $125k+, suggesting that they believe Our respondents provided us with more and 40%, respectively. At the highest in-person contact is ​​​​preferable to online than a dozen reasons for taking the plunge income levels, from $100K and above, this or telephone customer service. to bank online. need crumbles, at 12%, and then 14% for earners at $125,000 and above. ​​​Note: Women are almost half as likely to ​• Oddly, a negative, “Don’t know/refused” Terrestrial & visit a bank to resolve a ​​​​​problem (12% vs. at 15% edged out the next popular reason: • The catchall ”inconvenience” is markedly 23% of men). It would seem that affluents deemed an issue for two groups: 33% of and males ​​​​expect to receive this service as ​• At 14%, the aspiration towards better the $100K to $124,999K, and the young- a current customer. interest rates. This was most important to est slice of respondents, 30% of 20–24’s. both the​​ least and most affluent. cloud banks Ask a financial consultant: While​​​ only Note: At the very highest income level, 7% said that they visited to seek out finan- ​• Mindset: 13% “everything can be done this is a non-issue, at 5%. cial advice at their ​​​​branch, those who earn that way” (ethnicity: 3% non-white vs. 15% ​​ between $75,000 and $99,999 did so 11% white). • Pressing the flesh: while just 17% of the Bitcoin was favored by only a few in our What about the institutions themselves? Gender: at 37%, men visited more than of the ​​​​time, more than twice as much as overall sample wants in-person contact, survey, so here is an abbreviated look into twice as much as women, at 16%. both the least and most affluent ​​​​​incomes ​• 10% : better perks 25–29’s at 28% say that this would deter its usage: FREQUENCY OF BANK VISITS (NON- (both at 5%, respectively). them from banking online. In-person is im- ATM USAGE): ​​Income: Higher incomes are more likely to ​• 9% : “good /like it”: portant to 21% of women, while only 6% of Q: Have you used Bitcoin or its visit (16% vs. 35%). In-person: Customers still want in-person the men we polled thought it a dealbreaker equivalent in the last year? ​Q: How often do you bank and service—59% prefer face-to-face contact. ​• 7%: ATM reimbursement/no fee where cloud banking was concerned. This why? ​ A slightly different, but related question: is interesting since men visit their branches • 17% of users in the last year used ONLINE BANKS/ CLOUD BANKING: ​• 7%: never go into branches more frequently. [One wonders if bots will Bitcoin, or a crypo-counterpart—19% •​ Once a week or more: beyond age and ​Q: When was the last time you meet this need for in-person contact.] among 30–35er’s. income level, at this frequency of visit, visited your bank? Q: Would you join an online- ​• 5%: convenience gender ​​is also a factor. only bank without a physical • ATM’s, please: while affluent earners ar- • The higher the income, the higher the ​​This month: 46%. footprint? ​• 5%: less overhead, savings to customers en’t anxious about accessing their monies, probability of usage, 9%–35%. ​• At least once a week: 23% of our respon- the most affluent in survey have an outsize dents made a trip to their bank branch. ​​Income: This climbs in frequency with You’d think that digital natives would be ​• 4%: prefer banking from home concern for ATM availability: 43% of them • Gender: Male 32% vs. 10% women. We found that​ this increased with age and income, from 38% to 57%. disinterested in terrestrial banking since so care (vs. 8% of $100–$125K’s). income. At this frequency, it’s more male at ​​ much of their lives are conducted online. ​• 4%: rarely/never use ATM’s • Geography: Cities are 22% vs. 6% 37% vs. 16% female. Gender:​​ 56% of men visited their bank However, money is sui generis; getting and • Difficulty in resolving issues: while this non-cities. branch within the last month, ​​while 42% of spending it is its own category. Still, who ​• 4%: safety/security only speaks to 5% overall, 13% of $75k to • ​Once a month or more: age and income women dropped by. likes standing in line at a bank? $100k’s name this as a key factor in not • Just 1 in 401 would use it for everything. are factors. ​28% of respondents visited ​• 3%: better service online cloud banking. Recall from above, for those their bank at least once a month. The ​​​ ​Q: Why visit? Trusting the Cloud with One’s Money who do visit their branches, women are al- A word about the importance of Millennial youngest segment of our three age ranges, • 3%: already cloud banked; most half as likely to visit a bank to resolve loyalty, in terms of product adoption: 20–24, dropped by with the greatest ​​​ ​​Surprisingly, those of our respondents • Overall: Only 41% of our Millennials said (9% of 25-29’s) a problem: 12% v. 23% for men. frequency—33% of the time. Those who who visited their banks, mostly did so for ​​​ that they would choose an online bank if it We asked our survey participants if they’d earned between $50k and $74,999 visited ​​ mundane tasks that can currently be taken had no-brick-and-mortar analog. That’s a We also asked why one would NOT bank For the final section of this write-up we be more likely to use innovative banking 38% of the time, much more frequently care of via mobile banking or an ​​​ATM. “NO” from 59% of our respondents. Wow. online: wanted to focus on the personal: products like Venmo or PayPal if they than any other income level. were offered a loyalty or rewards pro- The Basics: ​​​The total of those who are • Income: Interest increases linearly with Old habits—and behaviors—die hard. • Social proof: How social media influenc- gram and 88% answered yes. At $100K+ ​• Once every three months: ​21% of our depositing or withdrawing funds is 59%. income, from 37% to 54% expressing inter- In-person presence has relevance, even es decision-making, product adoption, and income, this breaks 90%. Products are key survey participants visited their bank at est in (exclusively) cloud banking. for Millennials. The rationale of partic- behavioral change. in attracting and recognizing consumer least once every three months. This ​​fre- ​​​As may be expected, deposits account for ipants who are cloud banking-averse needs and desires. quency decreased somewhat with age. 43% of these visits, so folks ​​​​seem to still Gender reveals different findings: men are seems to be tied to the mundane reasons • Solvency of Millennials. be skittish about mobile snapshot or ATM far more likely to bank online; 52% vs. only for visiting a brick and mortar that we saw deposits. Who ​​​​knew? 36% women. earlier. • Personal financial outlook.

25 26 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY

Photo credit: Shutterstock Social proof Solvency

Q: Has Facebook or other social Q: Are services like Square There is consensus that student loan and Q: How much of your monthly Q: What’s your credit score? media influenced you to try a influencing you to tip more? credit credit debt are a huge problem. That credit card balance do you pay? new banking product? said, our sample had a robust financial 751+: 26% It would seem that high-income earners profile. Credit Card Debt (self-reported): Overall: “Yes” polls at 39%. were most amenable to Square incentiviz- 701–750: 29% ing them to tip more. Q: Student Loan Debt • 73% pay their monthly balance in full. Income: This increases with income from 651–700: 18% a low of 25% to a high of 57% in a straight • 15% of our survey said that it was influ- • 52% of our sample had no student loan • 88% of men paid off their balance in full, line to the highest income level. enced by products like Square, with 7% of debt (non-city dwellers were at 64%). versus 65% of women. 551–650: 9% respondents offering that they actually do Gender: Men are disproportionately influ- tip more. • 17% owed less than $10K. Women get credit cards earlier in life, but Below 550: 4% enced; 59% vs. 29% of women. they don’t pay them in full as much as men. Income: Influence on tipping grows with • 20% had a balance of $10–$50K. Women are three times as likely to pay just Only 13% were unaware of their score. Employment: Those who are employed income, from a low of 12% to a high of 31% their minimum. Twice as many women are unaware at 16% full-time answer in the affirmative 45% of for the $100K to $125,000 bracket. • 10% had more than $50K in debt. vs. 8% male. the time. In order to contextualize our sample’s Gender: Men indicate that they are open • Respondents who did experience the financial health, here again is a breakdown Race & Ethnicity: Non-whites were a bit to influence at 22%, versus 12% for highest percentage of debt were less of their (self-reported) credit scores: more influenced (46% v. 39% average). women. affluent.

These findings contradict the narrative • 67% of those earning $125K or more that Millennials are monolithic when it NO AVERAGE had no debt. MILLENNIAL comes to the influence of social media. CREDIT 4% <550 YES Given that much of our sample was less SCORES We learned for example, that men and the constrained by student loan debt, we de- affluent are twice as influenced by social cided to examine how they were managing 9% 551 - 650 media as women and lower income brack- HAS SOCIAL MEDIA their credit card debt. INFLUENCED 18% 651 - 700 ets. Earlier, we saw that social media was MILLENNIALS TO TRY second only to word of mouth, outpacing A NEW BANKING 701-750 advertising, except for Chase QuickPay. PRODUCT? 29% 751+ How does this influence manifest in be- 39% 61% 26% havior, if at all?

27 28 VESTED RESEARCH SERIES

MILLENNIAL MONEY STUDY Financial outlook Key findings

In this last working section, we’ll take a Gender: Men were quite bullish—30% Furthermore, 30% told us that their finan- look at the financial outlook of our survey believed the economy would get “much cial decisions remain unaffected by the • Millennials aren’t a monolith. When possible, • Products shouldn’t always be marketed uniform- takers, as well as their stated intentions: better,” as compared to 13% of women. Trump win. 15% were anxious about their parse for age segments, recognizing that 30–35’s ly. Women, for example, aren’t as attracted to wid- financial decisions. are vastly different from 20–24’s. gets or services described as “innovative.” Far more Q: How do you think the On the flip side, 22% of women thought skeptical than men, they want to see the benefit. economy will perform over the that the economy would get “somewhat Biggest takeaway: While only 12% said • The Millennial generation—despite being digital next five years? worse,” as compared to only 8% of men. that they were going to move to the side- natives—wants and prefers in-person customer • One’s social media marketing strategy must rec- lines and/or stay out of the stock market, service. If we want to capture those who aren’t cur- ognize that the affluent, men, and older Millennials Overall, a slight majority of 51% said that Q: Do you trust Trump with your this number climbed with income, from rently open to online banking, we need to create an are greatly influenced by their social networks. the economy would perform robustly over finances? 10% among the lowest earners, to 20% at the next five years. This is despite our find- the $100K level. That said, at the highest online customer experience that responds to their ing that only 23% were not anticipating a Our respondents were fairly split—40% income threshold, only 7% said that they needs, be it with conventional call centers or bots. • Rewards and perks matter when persuading coming financial crisis, creating a plurality answered yes and 40% were no’s with were going to be sidelined by the election. users to try innovative banking products. of findings. 20% weighing in as unsure. Trust was a • The cultural and political volatility of this mo- function of income level and gender. Age: Those who were staying out of the ment does have an impact on financial decision • Since our sample places greater trust in big tech, • Combining a range of positive responses, market peaked among 25–29’s at 16%. making, especially when we look at women and the don’t market products as a “big bank” solution, but from somewhat better to better to much Income: At the lowest income (below affluent. These groups need assurances that their rather, as a tech solution (as PayPal has done with better, we reached 51% of our survey. $32,500), 39% did not trust Trump at all. OK. We’ve gauged emotional outlook, regarding the economy, trust, and risk savings and investments are secure. Venmo). • Likewise, combining negative responses, Gender: Men trust Trump financially aversion. At the most personal level, are from somewhat worse to worse to much much, much more than women: Millennials staying put in their jobs, given • We must examine what can be can be designed • Create better usability for financial management worse, we arrived at 24% of respondents. their cautious wait-and-see attitude? for the 1 in 5—at the $100K+ income level—who products, such as Mint, especially among women • A wholehearted “yes”: men are at 55%, are staying out of the market (investment vehicles, users. • 25% went straight down the line, believ- women at 33%. Q: Are you on the job market? retirement products, etc). ing that the economy would remain the same. • I trust Trump very much: men at 30%, Strikingly, 53% told us that they were women at 13%. seeking their next job. While this rose to Sources: Income: At the $100K+ level and above, 71% among the youngest sliver of the age https://thefinancialbrand.com/22896/edelman-banking-financial-services-consumer-trust-study/ 24% respondents were the most hopeful, Q: How has the electoral cohort, this might be because they are Edelman Annual Trust Survey: believing that the economy would be much outcome changed your financial joining the workforce, or transitioning “Old Millennials” New York Magazine, Science of Us: nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/04/two-types-of-Millennials.html better, spiking at 37% at the $125k+ level. decisions? from a first job. Still, it’s a high number. CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/01/health/young-old-millennial-partner/index.html?sr=fbCNN050217young-old-millennial-partner- Belief in a strong economy correlated with Older Millennials are still on the prowl, at income. At the lowest levels, beginning at We came up with a range of possible an- 56% (25–29) and 47% (30–35). 0401AMStoryLink&linkId=37083597 $32,500, only 13% shared the confidence swers, from unaffected and wait-and-see, Pew Survey on Millennials and Trust: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2014/03/2014-03-07_generations-report-version-for-web.pdf of higher earners. As income improved, to anxious, staying out of the market and Note: these outcomes are broadly the so did their economic outlook. Whereas investing with caution. Overall, 42% told same across income. Pew Survey on Millennials and Trust, as covered by the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/17/ only 38% believe that the economy would us that they were adopting a “wait-and- the-real-reason-why-Millennials-dont-trust-others/?utm_term=.f125db51af2a perform robustly, responses across higher see” attitude. This was constant across PayPal Study on P2P Banking: https://www.paypalobjects.com/webstatic/en_US/mktg/pages/stories/pdf/paypal_money_habits_study__media_ income levels broke 50%, peaking at 61% age, income, and gender, and slightly more deck_global_final.pdf among our highest earners. pronounced at both ends of the income curve. Elite Daily study on millennial brand loyalty: http://elitedaily.com/news/business/elite-daily-millennial-consumer-survey-2015/

29 30 2017 SERIES RESEARCH VESTED

MILLENNIALS AND MONEY AND MILLENNIALS Why these whiners are ignoring your marketing campaigns marketing your ignoring are whiners these Why

Millennial MONEY STUDY

for a digital copy of this report this of copy digital a for http://fullyvested.com/millennial-study Visit

INSIDE:

WHY MILLENNIALS CARE ABOUT DATA DATA ABOUT CARE MILLENNIALS WHY POPULAR MOST THE LOVE STILL MILLENNIALS WHY SECURITY BUT NOT DATA PRIVACY DATA NOT BUT SECURITY 03 2017 OF APPS FINTECH 02 BANKS MORTAR & BRICK 01

WELLS FAR-TO-GO: MILLENNIALS MILLENNIALS FAR-TO-GO: WELLS FINANCIAL THE OF AFRAID WHO’S ECONOMY TRUMP THE IN TRUST 31 SCANDALS FINANCIAL & 06 ON YEARS 10 MILLENNIALS CRISIS? 05 04