Jack Henry Connect: Tips for Attracting Gen Z

By John San Filippo

The landscape of financial services is undergoing a dramatic shift, driven by the unique behaviors and expectations of Gen Z. This was the central topic of one session at the Jack Henry Connect user conference, held in San Diego Sept. 8-11, 2025. Titled Attracting the Next Generation: Strategies for Acquiring Gen Y and Gen Z “Bizumers,” panelists Tracy Almquist, Director of Consumer & Adoption Marketing, and Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy, both from Jack Henry, as well as Arash Asady, CEO of Bits of Stock, explored strategies for attracting and retaining this pivotal generation.

(l-r) Lee Wetherington, Arash Asady, Tracy Almquist

The panel kicked off with Wetherington highlighting the evolving priorities of banks and credit unions. He noted that a recent Cornerstone Advisors survey found that 43% of bank executives and 62% of credit union executives consider new customer or member growth their top concern. Wetherington also mentioned Jack Henry’s 2025 Strategy Benchmark Study, a survey of client CEOs, which revealed that for the first time, 17% of bank CEOs identified attracting new account holders as a key concern, with 19% calling it a strategic priority. This represents a 13-percentage point increase, signaling a significant shift in focus for banks.

The Bizumer Era

A key theme of the discussion was the concept of the “bizumer,” a term coined by Cornerstone’s Ron Shevlin to describe an individual who is both a consumer and a micro business owner, such as a content creator or gig worker. This new reality is reshaping the definition of small business, as the vast majority are individuals and sole proprietors.

The panelists identified a major strategic gap between how financial institutions (FIs) perceive their competitors and the reality of the market. Almquist pointed out that while many institutions see each other as their main rivals, the real threats are fintechs like Chime. Wetherington provided data to support this, stating, “sixty-seven percent of Chime’s 14 and a half million users are millennials and Gen Z.” These younger generations are increasingly defecting from big banks and gravitating toward platforms like Chime, Robinhood, PayPal, and Cash App.

Asady introduced the concept of the “deposit death spiral” to describe how these apps are “drinking the milkshake” of traditional financial institutions. (The idea of milkshake drinkers is a reference to this scene in the Daniel Day-Lewis movie There Will Be Blood and was introduced to the audience by Jack Henry CTO Ben Metz during his session the previous day.) He explained that these fintechs start by offering compelling payment experiences and debit cards. As customers use these services, their card engagement and digital attention shift away from their traditional FI, leading to a decline in deposits. The ultimate result is the loss of the primary FI relationship, which Asady said is “going to be really difficult, or I should say expensive, to get it back.”

To counter this, the panel emphasized the need for banks and credit unions to offer services that align with Gen Z’s preferences. Almquist stated that Gen Z wants “mobile first or mobile only” experiences, fast and real-time payments, and the ability to turn their cards on and off. Wetherington noted that Gen Z overwhelmingly prefers debit cards over credit cards, and Gen Zers account for more transactions per capita than any other generation.

The Integrated Investing Edge

Asady highlighted the psychological power of integrated investing. He said, “Financial health equals building wealth,” noting that Gen Z is eager to invest but often lacks the means or knowledge to do so. He presented a study that found fractional stock rewards on debit card swipes were 34% more effective than cash back in driving loyalty. This is because every swipe makes the accountholder feel better about their financial health, creating a powerful psychological anchor. He added, “If I know I’m investing as I’m spending, it removes that guilt.”

The panelists also discussed the importance of mobile-only account opening to get Gen Z “through the door.” Wetherington shared a “magic formula” for success: mobile-only account opening in under three minutes, with no manual data entry for identity verification, and a decoupled funding process. This approach eliminates the reasons for “shopping cart abandonment” and allows new account holders a window to fund their account from other services like Cash App or PayPal, effectively “reversing the straw.”

Looking to the future, the panelists stressed the importance of embracing family banking, a digital extension of the traditional practice where parents guide their children’s financial decisions. This digitized approach allows institutions to serve entire families and reclaim the generational handoff that fintechs have disrupted. Wetherington also touched upon the role of physical branches, noting that while Gen Z is digital-first, they still value the option to interact with real people for complex financial matters. Almquist added that branches may need to evolve into “pods or hubs” for one-on-one conversations rather than transactional centers.