Strategies adopted by banks to attract young customers

Abstract

When students enrol for a course at a post-secondary level, a bank account is needed where students can deposit monthly stipends. Retail banks have invested in this particular market segment and are designing specific products with benefits to attract the custom of such students/clients. This dissertation describes the strategies adopted by Maltese Banks to attract young customers, especially first-year University students. As stipends are directly credited to a bank account, students have to select a particular service-provider. Banks on the other hand compete with each other to offer the most attractive packages and rewards. Usually these are the determining factors which lead to the students’ ultimate choice. In addition, satisfied customers are likely to tell others about their experience and perceptions of a bank's offering. For banks it is important to implement the latest strategies and tactics in order to attract young customers who have minimal banking experience, or none at all. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine such banking activities from the point of view of both the bank and the student. This was mainly attained through interviews conducted with four local banks as well as questionnaires distributed to first year University students. Results suggest that students are mostly influenced by family members and other relatives when it comes to choose between banks. Furthermore, this study also showed that although banks are aware of this factor, their main focus still relies on the offering of gifts and freebies in order to retain a competitive edge. This dissertation offers recommendations to Maltese banks in order to improve present strategies when coming to attract young customers.