Mobile phones have increasingly become tools that consumers use for banking, payments, budgeting, and shopping. Given the rapid pace of developments in the area of mobile finance, the Federal Reserve Board began conducting annual surveys of consumers’ use of mobile financial services in 2011. This 78-page report, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” (March, 2015) examines trends in the adoption and use of mobile banking, payments, and shopping behavior and how the emergence of mobile financial services affects consumers’ interaction with financial institutions.
A Guide to Millennials: The Unbanked Generation
Born between 1981 and 2005, Millennias are the next big market, and due in part to the explosion of new communications technologies—they are the first completely digital generation, with 86% of them using smartphones as their main tool. Consequently, their habits are very different from the preceding generations, and at 80 million strong, there are more of them than even baby-boomers.
According to First Data, the figures on milliennials as a consumer class are impressive:
- 80 million millennials
- Still young (oldest millennials are 34 in 2015)
- Will reach peak earning age in 2020
- By 2025 they will generate 46% of all U.S. income
- 96% of consumers under 35 use online banking
- 38% use apps and mobile tools for bill payment
- 47% have transferred money to someone electronically
- More than 20% have never written a physical check
Read more about the Milliennial generation and mobile banking: First Data.