It’s difficult to open any media device these days without seeing or hearing something brilliant about the fintech revolution, often followed by doom and gloom predictions about retail banks becoming obsolete. Bill Gates once dismissed retail banks as “dinosaurs.” However, many of those same banks are still here more than 25 years after that remark was made! But while many banks may have been too indecisive to venture into fintech in the past, perhaps now is the time to make an affirmative decision about the future. After all, not making a choice is actually a choice itself.
A funny thing happened in that time since Gates’ remark—a whole new generation arrived on the scene (who perhaps might ask, who is Bill Gates?) The millennial generation includes those born between the 1980s and early 2000s, and they have already surpassed the baby boom generation as the largest age cohort in the U.S. By 2020, millennials will account for about one-third of the adult population. Millennials are right now coming into their peak home-buying years, making this a good time for more traditional brick-and-mortar financial institutions to capitalize on emerging fintech opportunities to be better prepared to meet the needs of this group.