The strengthening economy is helping the banking industry recover, but as it does it faces new challenges. The increased reliance young people have on their mobile devices is helping to drive the growth of mobile banking, and banks, credit unions, and banking alternatives are all riding the wave and constantly introducing new features in an effort to attract and retain young customers. Baby Boomers and, to a lesser extent, Gen X customers also offer opportunity as these groups are very happy with all the products and services their banks and credit unions offer – all except the advice provided by their bank’s advisers. Since advice is what these groups are looking for, especially Boomers on the brink of retirement, institutions are missing an opportunity to solidify relationships with people in these segments and get them to bring their retirement accounts and perhaps even investment accounts into the bank.

This report focuses on the challenges the changing landscape poses to traditional banks and credit unions, as well as on the new consumer expectations that are driving the innovations in the banking industry.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Retail Banking and Credit Unions – US, February 2014 and Retail Banking – US, October 2012.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed/GMI to explore consumer consumption of/attitudes and behaviors toward retail banks and credit unions. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in November 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results. Please note that our surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in our survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

All estimated mail volume data and consumer direct mail marketing creatives are provided by Mintel Comperemedia.

Mintel Comperemedia is a searchable competitive database tracking direct mail, print, and online advertising in the US and Canada, as well as email in the US. Comperemedia tracks information across eight sectors: Banking, Credit Card, Investments, Insurance, Mortgage and Loan, Telecom, Travel and Leisure, and Automotive.

For more information, please contact Account Services Management at 1.312.450.6353 or www.mintel.com.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers