Jason Brown, 26, and Collette Beyer, 22, use smartphone apps for most of their banking. “I probably won’t go into another branch unless I get a mortgage,” he says
says young people aren’t necessarily comparing banks to other banks, but to tech-savvy retailers that offer millennials top- notch experiences. Think Apple, Google and, yes, Starbucks. “Regardless of whether those expectations make sense for banks, those expectations exist,” she notes. “They have no toler- ance for conducting transactions done anywhere other than the channel which they so choose.” According to a recent report from Deloitte Canada, this may
be the year the industry finally responds to millennial desires, with mobile payments expected to increase 150%. But up until now, banks have been positively glacial in their migration to such technologies. On the contrary, they seem to be doubling down on the brick- and-mortar model. RBC, for example, launched branded retail stores to mimic the feel and experience of a storefront instead of the stuffy, traditional branch. “It’s more like an interactive retail experience, which we believe appeals to millennials,” says Mandy Mail, RBC’s director of student banking at the time of writing. Linda MacKay, senior vice-president of personal savings and investing at TD Canada Trust, sees the bank branch as the
sounding board that completes the connection between all the noise that’s available online. “Millennials want that second opinion or they want someone to validate their choices,” she explains. “Branches still have an important role with face-to- face conversations, especially concerning some of these big- ticket items like a house or investments.” Perhaps. As Brown bluntly puts it, “I do everything from my
phone. I probably won’t go into another bank branch unless I get a mortgage.”
Death of the mortgage? “Unless” is the key word in Brown’s statement, of course. A mortgage may simply not be in the cards for him or for many of his contemporaries. Like Poletto, he wants to pay off his $28,000 student debt and $15,000 student line of credit first. And right now, he and Beyer barely earn enough to pay their living expenses. He calculates they won’t even qualify for a mortgage until he’s 32 — and that’s assuming his student debt repayment plan works out as he predicts, and he’s able to increase his work hours once he graduates in April. Even in a best-case scenario, the couple isn’t interested in
MARCH 2016 | CPA MAGAZINE | 41
Nance Ackerman/KlixPix
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