Seventy-one percent of millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to anything big banks have to say.

by: Nancy Cook

Occupy Wall Street is swiftly becoming a memory, but the millennial generation that helped launch the sustained protest movement hasn’t lost its antipathy toward the big banks it targeted. Seventy-one percent of millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to anything banks have to say, according to the Millennial Disruption Index, a three-year study of roughly 10,000 millennials, born between the years 1981 and 2000, conducted by Scratch/Viacom Media Networks.

One in three millennials are also open to switching banks in the next 90 days. And four of the 10 most hated brands among millennials? You guessed it: Large financial institutions like Citigroup and Bank of America. It’s enough to give any investment banker or CEO of a major financial institution pause, especially when it comes to wooing, advising, and keeping the younger generation happy.

But if the big-bank crowd is uneasy, community banks sense an opportunity. Jill Castilla, president and CEO of the 150-year-old Citizens Bank of Edmond outside of Oklahoma City, is adamant about adapting to suit the needs of her up-and-coming clientele, and she couldn’t be happier.

“We’re in the position to attract millennials more than any other type of bank. They love to be part of a movement that’s local,” Castilla says by phone from her office. “Where else are they going to be able to tweet at the bank president at midnight on a Saturday and get a response the next day? They can’t do that with Jamie Dimon [CEO of JPMorgan Chase].”

 

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