64 Pct Of Malaysian Youths Are Indifferent To Primary Banks, Says Gallup

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Sixty-four per cent of Malaysian youths adults aged 25 to 29 are indifferent to or not interested in their primary banks, a survey by Gallup Inc., an American research-based firm showed. Gallup Senior Practice Expert Vibhas Ratanjee said the '2016 Malaysia Retail Banking Customer Engagement Report' found that on average, Malaysian youths used only two banking channels, allowing banks a small window of opportunity to engage them and cross-sell other products. "Millennials (youths) are a force to be reckoned with, and this is particularly alarming, considering that this large group of uninterested millennials presents the biggest threat to the future of banks in Malaysia," Ratanjee told a media briefing in conjunction with the release of the report here, Thursday. In its report, Gallup found that more than six in 10 or 64 per cent of Malaysian youths or so called Generation Y were indifferent to their primary banks, while less than a quarter or 24 per cent of millennials were fully engaged. Indifferent customers do not have a strong feeling or care much about the bank at all, and they may switch to another bank if enticed to do so, Ratanjee said. "With an astounding 90 per cent of the 1.2 billion global millennial population living in the developing world, including Malaysia, this group is fast becoming a market-changer in many ways, reshaping business trends with its unique preferences and experiences," he said. While Malaysian youths use more digital channels than older generations, the report found that they also used branch and automated teller machine channels quite frequently. "The millennial group want advice and need financial guidance, and banks should be like a 'financial caretaker'. "Offering multiple channels as part of a streamlined and seamless experience while continuing to put an emphasis on customer-centric culture and providing quality face-to-face interactions are necessary strategies for driving effective engagement and increasing customer retention, business growth and market share," he said. Ratanjee said the inaugural study was conducted using a random sampling method from Oct 28, 2015 to Jan 30, 2016, involving 3,137 adults who had an active personal account with a primary bank as the primary account holder. -- BERNAMA