We asked 7 college students to tell us the difference between a bank and a credit union

Chapel, 22: “My guess is that a credit union is more local and personable.”

Hannah, 20: “Do I know the difference between a bank and a credit union? The answer is no. I literally do not know.” 

Catherine, 21: “Banks are bigger and more high-tech. Credit unions have better customer service and higher interest rates, maybe … I’m not sure.”

Lauren, 22: “Okay, a bank holds money and invests it, a credit union only provides loans — I don’t know. Am I close?”

Ashlin, 22: “A bank is privately owned and a credit union is backed by the government.” 

Patty, 20: “A credit union must be better because my friend once told me it was.” 

Anna, 23: “Um … what’s a credit union?”

We’re not a research institute or some market intelligence company. We’re a group of twenty-somethings who believe in the credit union movement — and these responses show how much work we have to do.

In the past year, we surveyed over 500 college students. 76% of them didn’t know what a credit union was. We wanted to help. So together, we built Zogo — a gamified financial literacy app that helps credit unions engage and attract Gen Z. Since launching last November, our app has garnered nearly 80,000 young users who have completed over 1,500,000 modules, with their local credit union’s logo right on the screen. Now, just one year after our launch, over 50 credit unions in more than 30 states trust Zogo as the way to educate, engage and attract younger members.

As Gen Zers ourselves, we know how to engage this demographic.  Visit www.zogofinance.com to see how our solution fits your organization and to schedule a demo with one of our committed onboarding specialists.