Generation Z: Fuelling Disruption in FS

The next generation of young adult customers is beginning to reach maturity, and they are displaying significantly different behaviours to generations that have come before them. This cohort are financially savvy, digitally adept, and place high expectations upon their providers. Early on in their financial journey, they are looking to providers not just for top-notch service and easy access, but for advice and support.
Target Group spoke to 1,000 consumers from across the UK, with participants drawn from several generations determining what is most important to them when looking for financial products and providers.
The results provide a fascinating insight into the vast differences in how each generation wishes to approach their finances, and what kind of service they expect from their providers.
The research shows that, like the Millennials that came before them, Gen Z want an omni-channel experience that lets them pick and choose how and when they access and manage their accounts and products. Gen Z has a more extensive set of needs, that the best-equipped providers will need to grasp if they are to capture this
generation’s consumer loyalty.
Expert advice
While the online experience is undoubtedly important to this group of young consumers, they also want access to expert advice from friends and family, as well as their bank or building society. They want to experience the security that a personal touch and one-to-one professional advice can provide, but they want it to be accessible at a time and place that suits them.
This much is made clear by the observation that Gen Z is the group most likely to buy an insurance product from a human advisor in a branch (23% compared to 12% of Millennials and Baby Boomers), but also the most likely group to engage with a Virtual Assistant to manage their products.
In a fast-paced world, phone and white mail are becoming less important communication channels across all generations, preferred by just 8% and 5% of respondents respectively.
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