Financial advisors are seeking new ways to connect with mobile consumers. Banks are losing the personal touch with customers in the digital age. The disconnect is especially acute with male investors. Men are less likely to seek financial consulting services than women.
Video banking provides an opportunity to capture the attention of male clients who are spending more time video chatting.
Do men like to video chat?
How we communicate post-pandemic has changed. Zoom is becoming more ubiquitous than FaceTime. Most workers are conducting several business video chats a day. They may also be attending Zoom medical and legal appointments and dropping in on a few Zoom parties with friends.
Although females are becoming wealthier, men still hold 60 percent of the world's wealth. More importantly, the sexes have very different financial habits. Different strategies are required to woo men.
Male Financial Habits
Both men and women want their banking and investment services to make their money work for them. This is especially true in the current low-interest-rate environment. But their approaches to growing their money differ widely.
A recent study by Spectrem Group on the investment habits of High Net Worth Men vs Women confirms what many studies before it have found. Men are:
Focused on financial performance — Men place more importance on meeting financial return than personal goals.
Take greater investment risks — To generate higher returns, men are more likely to invest in alternative investments and actively trade stocks than invest in funds.
Less apt to seek investment guidance — Men have more confidence in their financial planning and investment skills.
Men Have Lower Investment Returns Than Women
Despite being more active, confident stock investors, many studies have concluded that men have lower investment returns than women. Why? For all of the above reasons. Confident male investors invest in riskier investments. They are more likely to be active than passive buy-and-hold investors. And they are less likely to seek investment advice.
The male investor could benefit the most from a closer banking and investment relationship. As men conduct more of their personal and professional life through video chat, banks have an opportunity to engage the upwardly mobile male.
But unfortunately, some video chat services are losing their clients due to low-quality video communications. Since men are generally less open to chatting and sharing their experiences online, they will have higher expectations regarding the quality of a virtual banking advisory meeting. Technology friction can be avoided by investing in high-quality video services with a seamless transition into a meeting and life-like video quality. If facing a pixelated bank advisor and garbled audio, they may not re-engage.
For more video banking solutions, reach out to a local bank.