Millennials And The Adoption Of Third-Party Payment Apps

Millennials may not understand the difference between a bank and a credit union, but when it comes to third-party payment apps, they know their stuff.

Individuals ages 18-to-34 are a technology-first, convenience-driven generation. Being able to access anything at any time is important for millennials. That’s why they prefer mobile for everything? including banking.

According to a FICO report, 80% of millennials do most of their banking activities online and through mobile apps. Through bank and credit union apps anyone can check account balances, deposit checks, pay bills, and transfer money between accounts, all from their phone.

Millennials still aren’t satisfied.

Third-party payment apps like Venmo and Square Cashallow users to make real-time mobile payments without fees, making them instantly popular with young adults.

Pay Pal-owned Venmo is particularly popular, as displayed by its dramatic 126% payment volume increase over the span of one year. Not only has Venmo made it possible to immediately transfer money from one account to another (though not withdraw), it has created a social media aspect to a payment method.

As 22-year-old DePauw University graduate Sheinnera Gerongay says, “It’s more social. You can put a funny tag on your payment whereas a bank app is more serious.”

I’m not the biggest believer in Venmo but sometimes boredom takes over and I find myself scrolling through my Venmo feed to see which of my friends transferred money to whom and the entertaining sayings attached to the transactions.

Aside from that, Venmo is convenient and available. Says Nathalia Melo, a graduate student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, “It’s an easy fix when I forget my card or I pay for someone, instead of an ‘I owe you’ and then the person never pays you back.”

Personally, I don’t love Venmo or other apps of its kind. I use them because it’s easy and because everyone else does. As skeptical as I am of the security and social nature of the app, I prefer Venmo over using cash. I hardly ever carry cash with me anymore and I can’t pay a friend back for late-night Wendy’s runs with my debit card.

Why Is This Important For Credit Unions?

Comments

NCOFCU Newsletter

The Bucket Coach is a financial advice book designed by Fire Services Credit Union, Tronto, Canada. and written exclusively for Fire Fighters It's a practical guide for household financial management, including investments, credit and mortgages, and retirement. Developed with contributions from Fire Fighters," NCOFCU Newsletter : " Kevin Connolly Chief Executive Officer Fire Services Credit Union Phone: 416-440-1294 ext 301 Toll Free: 1-866-833-3285 E-mail: kevin@firecreditunion.ca 1997 Avenue Rd Toronto, ON M5M 4A3

Read Complete Article HERE>»

Sunday Reading - What is the Dow Jones?

What is the Dow Jones? Created in 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the world’s oldest and most widely recognized stock indexes—a measure tracking the stock performance of a selected group of companies ( see most recent data ). Originally designed to track America’s leading industrial firms, the Dow has evolved into a cultural and financial shorthand for the health of the US economy. As of 2025, it measures 30 major companies —like McDonald's, Boeing, and Nike—across sectors such as technology, healthcare, finance, and consumer goods. Unlike most modern indexes, which are weighted by the total value of a company’s shares, the DJIA uses a price-weighted formula —meaning stocks with higher share prices exert more influence, regardless of company size. The DJIA has been updated 59 times since its creation to reflect changes in the US economy ( see ch...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

New from AutoLink

Read Complete Article HERE>»

Powell Rejects Any Plan for Fed to Intervene in Secondary Market to Bring Down Rates

Frank Diekmann October 20, 2025 2:22 am No Comments PHILADELPHIA–Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there are no plans for the central bank to directly intervene in secondary mortgage markets in an attempt to help bring down mortgage rates, an idea some have proposed as a means of addressing the affordability crisis In housing. Jerome Powell Speaking at the National Association for Business Economics conference in Philadelphia, Powell spoke to the Fed’s progress with “quantitative tightening,” that is, its work to reduce the more than $6 trillion of securities it holds on its balance sheet . Read more about the Balance Sheet HERE Those holdings include approximately $2 trillion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS), which are bundles of home loans that are packaged together and sold to investors, usually by middlemen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , noted Realtor.com. Rolling Off Balance Sheet As the report noted, the Fed dramatically increased M...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

The Role and Hazards of an Interim Executive

The Role and Hazards of an Interim Executive Leadership transitions are rarely smooth. A change at the top can trigger uncertainty, speculation, and anxiety. Staff worry about their jobs, members wonder about continuity, and boards feel the weight of stewarding the organization through uncertain change. The utilization of an interim executive director is meant to stabilize the organization and allow the board enough space and capacity to find the right successor leader. Here’s a catch: if an interim executive is also a candidate for the successor role, the very purpose of an interim engagement is compromised. With an Interim, there’s always a second wave of anxiety Every leadership transition comes with some anxiety. The staff sometimes don’t know what’s going on. The board is worried about continuity, and members may be worried about joining. One task of an interim is to absorb some of that anxiety and provide reassurance that things are moving forward. But there is al...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

How Stablecoins Could Prove to Be Anything But Stable for CUs That Don’t Get Moving

LOST PINES, Texas–With the GENIUS Act enacted and the countdown on for NCUA and regulators to get rules in place for stablecoins, credit unions were told it’s “go time” to begin preparing for a new technology that could “eat the lunch” of interchange. The cautionary words came from Dr. Lamont Black , an associate professor at the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, where among other things he teaches a graduate course on cryptocurrency, and who is also a fellow in Filene’s Credit Union of the Future Center of Excellence, and who s well-known to many in credit unions for his work and insights. After several years of speaking to credit unions on crypto, he told Catalyst Corporate’s Strategic Summit meeting he has pivoted now due to the rapid change taking place, and in addition to talking about AI (see separate reporting in the CU Daily), he has a warning for CUs when it comes to another emerging technology. Eating the Lunch of Payments “I believe st...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

Understanding the Fed’s Balance Sheet

Chair Jerome H. Powell Monetary policy is more effective when the public understands what the Federal Reserve does and why. With that in mind, I hope to enhance understanding of one of the more arcane and technical aspects of monetary policy: the Federal Reserve's balance sheet. A colleague recently compared this topic to a trip to the dentist, but that comparison may be unfair—to dentists. 1 Today, I will discuss the essential role our balance sheet played during the pandemic, along with some lessons learned. I will then review our ample reserves implementation framework and the progress we have made toward normalizing the size of our balance sheet. I will conclude with some brief remarks on the economic outlook. Background on the Fed's Balance Sheet One of the primary purposes of a central bank is to provide the monetary foundation for the financial system and the broader economy. This foundation is made of central bank liabilities. On the Fed's balance sheet, the liabili...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

Fire Police City County Federal Credit Union to construct new Fort Wayne headquarters

Fire Police City County Federal Credit Union announced Wednesday plans to break ground next month on a headquarters at North Clinton Street and Penn Avenue. The project will cost about $13 million, a spokesman said through email. The new building will have about 22,000 square feet, including a full-service branch, to accommodate the credit union’s growth in recent years. The credit union has more than 11,300 members at six branches in Fort Wayne and New Haven and has experienced a 7% membership increase over the last five years, the news release said. The credit union’s assets have grown about 46%. “As our membership continues to grow, it’s essential that we grow with it,” Diane Scherer, president and CEO of the credit union, said. The new headquarters represents the credit union’s “ongoing commitment to providing exceptional service,” expanding its capabilities and investing in the future, she said. “We’re excited to build a space that reflects our values and enhances the experience f...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

Treasury/SBA issue information on $349B available for business lending

CUNA The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief legislation signed into law last week recognizes credit unions as part of several vital economic recovery programs, notably the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Through the program, the Small Business Administration (SBA) will make available funds for small businesses to secure up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits, as well as to pay interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. CUNA continues to engage with the SBA and Treasury on strong specific guidance on the PPP. “Treasury and the Small Business Administration expect to have this program up and running by April 3rd so that businesses can go to a participating SBA 7(a) lender, bank, or credit union, apply for a loan, and be approved on the same day,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “The loans will be forgiven as long as the funds are used to keep employees on the payroll and for certain other expenses.” All existing SBA-cert...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

For Banks and Credit Unions, AI Can Be Risky. But What’s Riskier? Falling Behind.

By Nicole Volpe, Contributor at The Financial Brand For many bank and credit union leaders, Generative AI is mostly generating… anxiety. On one side is the fear of getting it wrong: exposing sensitive data, triggering a compliance breakdown, or wasting money on experiments that never scale. On the other looms something even more stress-inducing: watching competitors that have mastered AI serve their customers faster, cheaper, and with more personalization, while gaining market share in the process. Small and mid-sized financial institutions have long worked to offset competitive disadvantages versus larger and more-digital competitors, but AI threatens to widen the gap. Global and national players have the budgets and talent to embed AI deeply within their operations. Fintechs can pivot quickly and launch new digital experiences with fewer legacy constraints. Meanwhile, a majority of banks and credit unions sit in between — too small to match the giants’ scale, yet too complex and...

Read Complete Article HERE>»

First-responder Credit Union Newsroom

Search This Blog