“If banks can’t offer something more valuable than Amazon Prime, then we are probably in the wrong business” – Bradley Leimer

Introduction

The millennial generation falls under the age bracket of 18 to 40, that demands convenience, personalisation, and design experience in every engagement. This experiential persona is translated into millennial’s banking needs as well. A bank providing feature-embedded products and services powered by new-age technologies in a few clicks will succeed in the market.

Millennial growth opportunity

For millennials, to achieve financial independence, opening a bank account is the first step. However, many millennials struggle to do so as their first-hand banking experience results in them feeling disengaged. Having said that, in the coming 5 to 10 years, millennials will account for more than 60% of the workforce in the Asia Pacific countries, and to tap this market, traditional banks will have to go through a radical change.

With the vision of millennials as a growth opportunity, we see several neobanks creating state-of-the-art product propositions, catering to specific millennial needs. This further brings disruption and competition in the market as these banks operate as technology companies with an agile mindset, unlike the traditional banks’ incremental change approach.

Our approach

To identify the best-in-class product and service propositions while fulfilling the experiential needs of the millennials, we studied 60 banks in the 7 Asia Pacific countries. Based on our in-depth analysis, we have come up with a list of Twimbit’s top 10 millennial banks in the Asia Pacific, which are setting up a benchmark for banks that cater to millennial needs.

To narrow down the top 10 banks from an exhaustive list of 60 banks, we assessed each of them on five key features stated below, listing the millennials’ expectations from their respective banking partners. Further, we ran a short survey inviting 200 millennial respondents across these countries to determine their preferences in banking services.

Evaluation Criteria

1. A strong and secure digital identity
2. Presence of personalised offers
3. End-to-end digitalisation
4. Significant corporate social responsibility
5. Advanced social media integration

Top 10 millennial banks

Rank 1, Frank, Singapore

Rank 2, Kakao, South Korea

Rank 3, DBS, Singapore

Rank 4, TMRW by UOB, Indonesia/ Thailand

Rank 5, WeBank, China

Rank 6, Jenius, Indonesia

Rank 7, Bank Danamon, Indonesia

Rank 8, Axis Bank, India

Rank 9, Westpac, Australia

Rank 10, SBI YONO, India

Key takeaways

The banks discussed in the list have made incredible shifts to identify, cater to, and continuously support the ever-changing needs of the millennial population. Therefore, based on our analysis, there are four key best practices to successfully attract and engage millennials:

1. Unique digital brand identity
2. User interface inspired by cartoon and social media
3. Enjoyable, accessible, and aesthetic physical and digital presence
4. Reduction in clicks through facial and biometric recognition

Despite the new and upcoming challenger and neobanks, whose value proposition is far more superior to traditional ones, they struggle to acquire customers due to their loyalty and security trust with traditional banks. However, we see these banks as strong competitors for the future years when customers will have developed a broader mindset and will be more willing to prioritise services over safety.

Note

This research was contributed by Saksham Verma and Rajvardhan Bhatia