Filene Report: Understanding How Gen Z Navigates Money, Banking, and Trust
Gen Z is building financial relationships differently. Rather than choosing one institution for life, young consumers create a mix based on convenience, value, and progress toward personal goals. Our friends at Filene’s Center of Excellence for the Next Generation of Member Growth have released a new report, Understanding How Gen Z Navigates Money, Banking, and Trust to share their research. (Cornerstone member log in required to view the report).
What This Means for Credit Unions
The big takeaway: Gen Z is not choosing financial providers based only on institution type or long-standing loyalty. They are looking for tools that are easy to use, clearly valuable, and connected to the goals they care about. Many start with several banking relationships and narrow them down as their financial lives become more focused.
Where Credit Unions Can Stand Out
The opportunity for credit unions is to become the trusted partner young consumers turn to when they are ready to simplify their financial lives.
To stay relevant, credit unions can meet Gen Z earlier with simple, transparent accounts, strong digital experiences, and messages that connect products to real-life goals. Younger consumers often turn to parents, peers, YouTube creators, and Reddit communities for guidance, so credit unions may want to look closely at where and how they show up online. For Gen Z, loyalty is earned through clarity, ease, and value that shows up again and again.
Want the full picture? Download the report for details.
At Cornerstone, we're dedicated to helping credit unions grow, which is why we've partnered with Filene’s Center of Excellence for the Next Generation of Member Growth. This initiative focuses on identifying strategies to attract, engage and retain younger credit union members. This complimentary report is part of their research and is available to all Cornerstone members.
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