In a world driven by mobility and technological convergence, financial and lifestyle services are increasingly blurred and financial institutions are being dramatically reshaped as a result.

One of the greatest factors influencing this change is the heightened expectations of tech-savvy customers – particularly Generation Y, otherwise known as millennials (18 to 34 years old).

A global study by Telstra, which researched the financial habits of millennials, suggests their interactions with financial institutions are forcing the industry to reinvent itself.

>See also: How to keep up with the millennial entrepreneur

Equally, their expectations are defining the role they want finance to play in their digitally-driven lifestyles.

The change to the industry is so dramatic that millennials may be the first generation to live their lives never requiring, nor engaging with, a traditional financial institution – and only ever associating the word ‘branch’ with a tree.

So just how are they doing it?

Mobile technology and social media are two key driving forces. Social media is fast becoming the theatre for millennials to discuss their money matters.

Telstra’s research shows that last year, millennials drove 40% of the financial conversations on Facebook – 76% of which occurred on mobile devices.

These figures echo reports that more than 50% of interactions with banks in both developing and developed nations are conducted through mobile devices.

This trend is set to grow across all demographics with 37% of the global adult population forecast to be mobile banking users by 2020.

While this spectacular growth in digital communications technology creates a huge opportunity for institutions to become more embedded in their customers’ lives. It also represents a threat for traditional players.

As it is the very same technologies connecting institutions and customers that is also offering new players a way to disrupt the market either as new entrants, or as enablers, and they’re targeting like-minded millennials.

The new trinity

‘Trust, relationships and technology’ is the new trinity for this generation, who are seeking more value from relationships with their financial service providers.

Currently, most millennials don’t feel that relationships with financial institutions are ideal – and as their affluence increases, so too does the gap.

Not surprisingly, affluent millennials are the most demanding. They seek a true value partnership with their financial services provider and less than half believe they are receiving one.

As a result of millennials’ expectations, there is an ongoing and shifting trade-off between privacy and personalisation that’s forcing institutions to continuously balance competing imperatives – such as speed, convenience, flexibility and customisation – to become and remain relevant.

The opportunity

Spending nearly one and a half times more time on their mobile devices than all other generations, millennials have adopted the smartphone as their preferred method of engagement. Fortunately, they also have an appetite for new ways to spend, save and invest.

The solution, therefore, is to build platforms that create innovative ways to connect with customers through speed of delivery, rapid scalability and functionality with extreme agility.

As identified, trust also matters and – perhaps not surprisingly given the historical reputation for security and privacy – banks are still overwhelmingly seen as the most trusted institutions. This is a huge asset in a world of frequent threats to online security.

To leverage this trust, traditional financial institutions should consider redefining their relationship in line with emerging expectations – changing from being a financial institution to part of an online financial ecosystem.

Collaboration between traditional and non-traditional players will create new ecosystems that unlock value through re-bundling. This will be enabled by a number of capabilities.

Software-defined cloud networks can be reconfigured in real time by applications to dynamically provide the required features and access.

>See also: The rise of digital challenger banks – are they just for millennial ‘mobivores’?

Analytical platforms can provide access to data and tools so institutions can quickly gain new insights into the customer and turn them into operational actions.

Cyber security and identity platforms can protect highly-distributed composite services and personal data, and can evolve to address new and emerging threats for both millennials and institutions.

Digital platforms can reduce the cost, time and complexity of building, deploying and maintaining applications. They also allow institutions to expose data and services to ecosystem partners in a manageable but highly usable way.

The prize for executing these capabilities well is a smarter, faster, agile, more efficient, convenient and relevant institution that is well positioned to adapt to the changing risk profile of the industry.

How today’s financial institutions adjust to this new reality will go a long way to defining their future success.

Sourced from Rocky Scopelliti, global industry executive, banking, finance and insurance, Telstra