Gen Y turns to new technology for banking

Australian financial services institutions have untapped opportunities to secure their share of the Generation Y market by offering them enhanced services on mobile devices and through social media, according to a Telstra white paper launched recently.

With the Gen Y market now making up 21% of the population and approximately one quarter of the financial service sector’s customer base, banks could be growing this lucrative part of the market by adopting technologies such as instant messaging, mobile services and collaboration tools such as videoconferencing to meet Gen Y’s desire for choice, convenience and control.

Nerida Caesar, Telstra Enterprise & Government Group Managing Director, said using the correct technology to improve customer service in the Gen Y market is critical for Australia’s financial institutions. “Utilising new technologies to better communicate with customers is going to be a key differentiator for the financial services sector,” Caesar said. “The challenge for the industry is having the right framework to deliver customer service through a range of increasingly complex and numerous channels.”

Telstra collaborated with social researcher Hugh Mackay, Roy Morgan Research and the Customer Service Institute of Australia to produce the white paper ‘ICT as a Driver to Improve Service to Generation Y for Financial Services’ that explores issues relating to attracting and retaining Gen Y as customers and as employees.

“Gen Y is the most highly educated, overstimulated and media-saturated generation in our history. Members of this generation will account for an increasing share of our customer and employee base, so financial institutions will need to understand them intimately and engage with them sensitively,” Mackay said.

This generation lists fast problem resolution and friendly, courteous and knowledgeable staff as indicators of good customer service. By addressing these criteria, financial institutions can directly influence satisfaction. For example, integrated multichannel contact facilitates interactive and immediate communications such as click-to-chat, click-to-call and click-to-conference. It offers the customer using online banking the opportunity to instigate a conversation with customer service staff, usually by following a link, pressing a button in their browser or as an option from a mobile application.

In addition to improving the customer service of Gen Y, technology can also assist this generation by providing a positive customer service experience to all banking customers as they become frontline staff in this sector.

The white paper reveals that for Gen Y, the role of technology in the workplace is vitally important:

•  They expect technology tools to enhance customer service;
•  Employer’s desirability is influenced by the technology provided;
•  They prefer to leverage their technology investment (eg, mobile devices, laptops); and
•  They prize work/life flexibility, enabled through mobile devices and applications.

A full copy of the white paper can be found at www.telstra.com/enterprise.