JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new American study from FIS® (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, finds that U.S. Millennials are more open to adopting new and digitally oriented financial experiences, including those enabled through embedded financial experiences, than other generational groups.
Embedded finance is when consumers have unique, tailored financial service experiences delivered to them when they need it by non-financial companies. Most often, consumers encounter these new financial service experiences in the form of in-app payments, such as on social media platforms where a purchase is completed without leaving the platform, or as Buy Now, Pay Later offers at checkout.
Young consumers take advantage of seamless shopping experiences via social media apps:
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55% of Millennials and 48% of Gen Zs say they are likely to make a purchase directly through a social media platform in the next 12 months, according to the recent survey.
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Meanwhile, Millennials (25%) and Gen Zs (21%) said they feel social media purchases encourage more frequent, unplanned spending.
Millennials are most likely to live and trade in the metaverse:
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While only 29% of all consumers say they are likely to access the metaverse in the next year, nearly half of Millennials (49%) and 35% of Gen Zs say they are likely to.
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Only 8% of Baby Boomers said they plan to use the metaverse during that time, while 73% of Gen Z consumers said they would be willing to make a purchase in the metaverse.
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Those willing to make purchases in the metaverse in the next 12 months said they would be open to buying games or game tokens (52%), event tickets (38%) and virtual clothing/fashion (32%) in the metaverse.
Loyalty apps are winning in the eyes of the younger generations:
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More than half of Millennials (56%) and Gen Zs (51%) favor loyalty mobile apps over other forms of loyalty programs, such as physical cards, digital wallets or payment cards.
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Conversely, 50% of baby boomers said they still expect to accumulate loyalty points on a physical card in their wallet, such as a coffee shop stamp card, in the next 12 months.
Despite Gen Z’s being digital natives, Millennials are more likely to embrace fintech, digital banking:
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32% of Millennials say they are likely to use fintech or neobank banking services in the next 12 months, more than Gen Zs (22%), Gen X (13%) and Baby Boomers (5%).
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Millennials were also the most likely (24%) of all generations to say they would likely use banking services — including investments and insurance — in the metaverse.
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Even in person, embedded payment experiences, such as in checkout-free shopping, are particularly appealing to younger consumers. 70% of Millennials say they want to visit one in the next 12 months, closely followed by Gen Zs (63%).
“While the general wisdom is that the youngest consumers are most likely to adopt new technology, Millennials – who have greater spending power – are leading the adoption of many new digitally-oriented payments and financial services, according to our new research,” said Taira Hall, Senior Vice President for Embedded Finance, B2B & Strategic Innovation in FIS. “Between the desire to leverage seamless shopping experiences like those in social media apps or take advantage of the discounts and savings available through loyalty apps, the signal from Millennials and Gen Z is that there is significant potential for businesses to embed financial services in these the channels. .”
Learn more about consumer adoption of embedded finance with FIS research from around the world here.
About the survey
Ipsos was commissioned by FIS to conduct the survey in September 2022 of 1,000 American consumers across Gen Z (18-24), Millennials (25-40), Gen X (41-54) and Boomers (55 and over).
About FIS
FIS is a leading supplier of technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses of all sizes and across all industries globally. We enable the movement of trade by unlocking the financial technology that powers the world economy. Our employees are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests through our trusted innovation, system performance and flexible architecture. We help our customers use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. FIS is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida and is a member of the Fortune 500® and Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. To learn more, visit www.FISglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@FISglobal).
