New Study: Latino Millennials Prove They're Adventurous Bankers, and Seek Out Non-Traditional Banking Institutions
With more than 20 percent of the highly sought-after U.S. millennial segment identifying as Hispanic, there's no doubt that Latino millennials have been marked as the trendsetters and spearheaders. Not only that, but as many Hispanic millennials move into peak earning years, their purchasing power will continuously increase, challenging the might of the Boomer dollar.
Thinknow Research, in collaboration with Sensis, established a new study that shows how Hispanic millennials behave in regards to financial responsibility and actions, compared to non-Hispanics in the same age bracket. For example, nearly 50 percent of Hispanic millennials pay off credit cards each month, compared to 61 percent of Asian millennials and 46 percent of black and non-Hispanic white millennials.
Banking is an risky endeavor for many Hispanics, yet the study shows they generally have positive attitudes when it comes to banking and financial establishments (61 percent v. 55 percent), and they are more likely than other demographics to consider non-traditional banks for their banking needs (55.6 percent v. 49.3 percent).
JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America aren't the only options for Hispanic millennial bankers, who seek out alternative banking branches, companies and retailers, such as Capital One, Ally, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Wal-Mart and Target.
But, Latinos not only participate in a variety of banking methods, they're also more likely to do bank in person, rather than online (60 percent v. 29 percent). For this reason, language factors are important to 34 percent of Hispanic millennial consumers, compared to 17 percent of other millennials.
When it comes to financial preparedness, Hispanics fair well; less than half of Hispanic bankers (43 percent) stated they were financially overwhelmed, and nearly half (48 percent) had enough funds to bank for a "rainy day" fund. However, only 58 percent of Hispanic millennials have a retirement savings plan (compared to 71 percent of African American millennials). They're less aware of mutual funds (40 percent v. 52 percent), and millennials across the board ranked around the same when it comes to credit cards and checking and savings accounts.
Despite an affinity for traditional banking, other studies show that Hispanic millennials still adopt technology, and they lead when it comes to mobile banking trends. Around 69 percent of Hispanics use their smartphone for mobile banking and 49 percent use tablets for the same reason.
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