Opportunity
How can we encourage young people to utilize savings and investment vehicles, and build strong financial discipline?
Young people are saving less than ever before. This January, the Globe and Mail surveyed 3,500 North Americans and found that many Gen Z’ers are hesitant to save for long term goals and don’t believe they’ll have enough saved for retirement.
While the current economic state is less than favourable for most young Canadians, that is not the only issue we’re seeing. Many young earners don’t know how to develop effective savings habits. In recent years, content creators (like myself, shamless plug) have taken their financial learnings to the Internet, in the absense of financial literacy being formally taught just about anywhere. This gives organizations like Neo Financial a unique opportunity. With self-taught personal finance content taking platforms like TikTok by storm, there is a clear need for financial literacy and education. Digital bank Neo Financial has a userbase of over 1 million Canadians, and considering Gen Z’ers are digital innovators, we can presume a large portion of their customer base is young Canadians. This gives Neo a unique opportunity, to leverage their product offerings to bridge this gap, making savings feel more achievable and realistic for the average young Canadian.
Neo Financial’s current savings offerings are fantastic! I’m a daily user of their products. Customers can open multiple high interest savings accounts, pay $0 in account fees, and the digital experience is user-friendly and intuitive. So, how can Neo leverage it’s offerings to take their customer’s savings rates to the next level, really encouraging young adults to save more, and build consistency in their financial habits?
Walkthrough of Neo’s Existing Savings Features
Here’s what a user can currently do with a Neo Financial Savings Account.
The outcomes of Community Goal Setting includes enhanced communication, improved trust, and increase accountability. Whether users are looking to save alongside friends for a trip, save with a partner for new furniture, or are looking for more accountability, Social Savings will foster the sense of community they’re looking for.
Leveraging Neo’s existing ‘Savings Goal’ feature attached to each HISA, users will have the option to make a goal public, allowing their friends and family to follow along. With this, approved followers can view and celebrate one another’s progress with each deposit. This way, partners saving up for new furniture can view each other’s progress, and ensure both parties are committed to their budget plans. Or, friends travelling together can view each other’s progress, contributing to the exciting countdown to the trip.
Saving money can feel restrictive and stressful, so a pat on the back from loved ones can go a long way.
“$1000 is a lot of money - there’s no way I can save that much.”
People often don’t save because they can’t visualize achieving their end goal. With goal setting, it’s necessary to turn goals into actionable items. So, if a user sets a goal of saving $1000, let’s help them understand exactly how to achieve that.