What’d I miss? News and Insights that got noticed - Week 16

Key themes this week (April 12 - April 18)

• Gen Z wants personalized products and services that are easier to consume on their mobile devices
• [POLL] 83% agree with Gen Z on wanting ALL banking products on the phone
• Romania's Salt goes live with Starling's SaaS platform
• US neobank Mercury enters consumer banking market with Mercury Personal

What Generation Z Wants From Their Bank

“...What Gen Z wants from a bank is what almost everyone now wants from their bank: personalized products and services that are easier to consume on their mobile devices. But for Gen Z, using their phones to open accounts, pay bills, send money to family and friends, get financial advice, apply for credit including BNPL, invest and save money — aren’t just nice to have. They are a requirement. Their low bar: those products and services must be available on the phone, on demand, and without having to bounce between apps and screens to access them..."

Key takeaways:

• 69 million consumers in the U.S. are between the ages of 12 and 27 and are known as Gen Z and by 2030, Gen Z will represent a third of the workforce
• Gen Z wants personalized products and services that are easy to use on their mobile devices
• Gen Z is more willing and able to switch banking relationships than previous generations, and they do so to get the banking services they want

LinkedIn Post

[POLL] Do you agree that ALL banking products must be available on the phone, on demand, and without having to bounce between apps to access them?

for Gen Z, using their phones to open accounts, pay bills, send money to family and friends, get financial advice, apply for credit including BNPL, invest and save money — aren’t just nice to have. They are a requirement. Their low bar: those products and services must be available on the phone, on demand, and without having to bounce between apps and screens to access them…”

So I asked the LinkedIn audience how they feel about this…

Key takeaways:

• 12% of respondents (and 100% of Gen Z) agrees with this
• 71% of Non Gen Z respondents agree with this for a total of 83%
• 17% of Non Gen Z respondents disagree with this
• A clear 83% vote for this statement and something for Financial Services providers to think about

LinkedIn Post

Romania's Salt goes live with Starling's SaaS platform

"...Romanian digital bank Salt has gone live on Starling Bank's SaaS platform Engine, onboarding 100,000 customers in its first two weeks. Banca Transilvania Financial Group-owned Salt Bank is Romania's first digitally-native lender and has set its sights on disrupting the local scene and winning a million customers within three years. The bank teamed up with UK counterpart Starling to build and launch on the cloud-based Engine tech stack in under 12 months...”

Key takeaways:

• Salt Bank is owned by Banca Transilvania Financial Group and aims to disrupt the local banking scene.
• The bank offers a mobile app with money management features, Apple and Google Pay, and 3% interest on current accounts.
• Salt is the first bank to use Engine, which Starling plans to use to expand internationally.

?LinkedIn Post

US neobank Mercury enters consumer banking market with Mercury Personal

"...Alexey Likuev, head of personal banking at Mercury, states there is a “paradox in today’s banking landscape”, noting that while most neobanks target “pretty basic offerings'' for lower-income individuals and the underbanked, traditional banks provide private banking and wealth management services which involve “regularly talking to a banker”. Likuev asserts that Mercury Personal is an attempt to fill this perceived gap in the market and serve enterprise founders who are “just looking for a powerful self-service banking option they can use for their personal needs”. The fintech announces that, for the time being, interested individuals can sign up for a waiting list for the solution, with the company anticipating a full launch for US customers later this year...”

Key takeaways:

• The new account offers features like customizable debit card limits, no-fee ATMs, and high-yield savings.
• Mercury Personal has a $240 annual fee but also offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance.
• Head of personal banking Alexey Likuev says Mercury Personal fills a gap in the market for enterprise founders who want a self-service banking option.

LinkedIn Post

Time to re-optimize my "coffee name" strategy

To streamline the process when I go to a coffeeshop and the barista is asking for my name I will tell them my name is Mike.

From prior experience I had learned that not many baristas know how to spell Rutger, and it always resulted in a back and forth or complete misspelling of my name.

So that's when I decided to make my "coffee name" Mike. That was until today when I used it and got an unexpected result (see the picture).

So that means I now have to re-optimize my "coffee name".

Does anyone have any suggestions...?

LinkedIn Post

BofA evolves AI-powered assistant toward deeper digital integration

“…Erica is really almost a gateway to client servicing, connecting clients to products and services, making it easier to access those products and services, simplifying and basically connecting life and financials for them.

[...]

Clients are doing more and more digitally, and we want to be there for that. But in the key moments that matter, when something’s truly sensitive, or where you really need that human interaction, having branches and our high-touch strategy is a differentiator. It’s about striking the right balance between technology and human channels…”

Key takeaways:

• Erica is a virtual assistant that has been used by Bank of America customers over 2 billion times and has responded to 800 million inquiries.
• Erica is continually being fine-tuned and given new information to better respond to customer inquiries.
• Bank of America has invested $3.8 billion in technology initiatives this year and is looking for more areas where Erica can provide benefit.
• Customers appreciate the convenience and efficiency of Erica, and Bank of America believes that AI has a lot of value and opportunity for the banking industry

LinkedIn Post

Check this out:

If you just want to listen to the What’d I miss Top 3 from last week you can watch this video…?

As I am always interested in what you think about these posts, send me a message, or just leave a comment on the post on LinkedIn. If you like reading this please engage with the posts since that is the currency of LinkedIn.