In the final editing stages of Jean Garascia’s upcoming Gen Y report (focused on those ages 7-24, and in particular 18-24), I’m truly amazed by two findings:
1) In terms of dollars, most of us are probably underestimating this vast emerging segment
2) The same ol’ channels and messages just don’t reach gen Ys (Baby Boomers, insert Oldsmobile reference here)

Bottom line, theres much to be gained with gen Y’s, but the approach had better be different or your competitor will be the one doing the gaining.

On the dollars to be had by marketers, data analyst Stephen Knighten projected total collective income for Gen Ys, Gen Xs and Baby Boomers at 2007, 2012, and 2017. Unsurprisingly the boomer’s total income trails off starting in five years’ time (from $4.03 trillion down to $3.83 trillion), but when graphed out the total income of the Ys starts to rapidly gain on the Xs after 2012, narrowing the gap from $1.5 trillion to just over one trillion dollars.

Channel preference is an interesting area, and at first glance the data would appear to say that Gen Y’s don’t care as much about electronic channels as the rest of us imagine. However, Gen Y’s don’t view electronic channels as a differentiator because they grew up with it and can more easily navigate past usability issues, while by a significant margin ATM access is much more important to the younger adults.

Attitudes towards electronic vs. paperless financial records is another telling area, with the recent data from 2,700 respondents showing that Y’s really don’t struggle with the mental barriers that befall X’s and Boomers.

Bottom line, Y’s think different, and because more profits will be coming from their purses, wallets, Internet connections and even mobile devices, payments and financial services companies need to understand where the crucial differences are and what to do about them.