Mike Carter is Chief Marketing Officer of D3 Banking, a digital banking startup based in Omaha. He recently spoke at the FinovateFall conference in New York. He will be presenting on millennials and banking at the Digital Economy Conference on October 2nd. SPN caught up with Carter by phone.
SPN: How was New York?
It was great. I was there on behalf of D3 and they were announcing a new product. It was really well-received. There was a gap in the market because [banks] had told us so, but we were surprised by the number of big financial institutions that told us they didn’t have an offering [for small businesses].
SPN: At the Digital Economy Conference you’re going to be talking about millennials and banking. What do you see as the biggest difference in banking when it comes to this generation?
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Obviously, the greatest difference is that they were born into a world where the Internet already existed in its full glory. They are extremely savvy digital users, so delivering financial services to them is inherently digital. You won’t win that generation any other way.
The real trick is that they need valued-added financial services help, and it needs to be personalized to their situation. We use that term millennials for one type of person, and it’s not. Like every generation, they are all different. Once you connect with them, you’ve got to be personalized in the way you serve.
The interesting thing about this generation is that unlike their parents they are, very early on, expecting and wanting financial advice and discipline. Of my generation, only about 15% use digital financial tools. I think this next generation is going to be significantly larger than that.
SPN: What companies in the region are you paying attention to right now that you think are interesting in this space?
I’m prejudiced toward a couple of them because I’ve worked with them, but their technology is very modern. I’ve worked with D3 Banking, the most contemporary provider of digital banking services today in terms of technology. They built a product two and half years ago–it’s an all new tech stack, all new tools, a whole new platform and code base. We’re able to give a consistent experience across any device, and we’re able to get a complete view of any customer’s data in order to provide personalized help.
The other company is Prairie Cloudware. Doug Parr will be speaking at Digital Economy about mobile payments. We’ve all been expecting it to take off, but it doesn’t seem to have had meaningful adoption even among millennials. Doug will be speaking on what he thinks is happening and what can drive more meaningful adoption.
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Purchase your ticket now for the Digital Economy Conference on October 2nd.
Ryan Pendell is the Managing Editor of Silicon Prairie News.
