Republican Parents May Be Swayed by Wells Fargo Smartphone ATMs

by Jordan Star

SUMMARY: 7% of U.S. adults say they would consider getting a Wells Fargo account to be able to access the bank’s new smartphone-savvy ATMs. These persuadable consumers are more likely to be Republicans from 35–54 years old. In addition, 59% are parents.

Left your debit card at home and need cash? No problem. Wells Fargo has announced its new service, which will allow customers to access Wells Fargo ATMs with just a pin, and an eight-digit code provided by the Wells Fargo app.

Though similar technology is being developed by other major banks, such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo is the first to make this futuristic technology a reality, and will be equipping all of its 13,000 ATMs nationwide with this smartphone capability.

It turns out, the added convenience of smartphone ATMs may be enough to bring in new customers:

As you can see, 7% of U.S. adults say they would consider getting a Wells Fargo account to be able to access this service.

In and of itself, this is fascinating, but we begin to see an even more complex story when we delve into the profile of this 7%.

AGE & PARENTAL STATUS

It looks like Gen Xers are most likely to make the switch to Wells Fargo to take advantage of this new service. They are humbly followed by Millennials (39%).

At first we were somewhat perplexed by this data, but then realized, perhaps Gen Xers are swayed by this service because they are more likely to be parents. In fact, we found that 59% of this group of persuadable consumers are parents and/or grandparents.

After all, this new service is meant to be used in emergencies, such as when someone accidentally forgets their credit card at home, but needs cash. Most adults would be less likely to let that happen, but it could be a different story when it comes to their kids. This new service could come in handy if someone’s child were in a tight spot and needed money. A parent could simply retrieve a one-time code, give their child their four-digit pin, and boom — crisis averted.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION

In our post-election research, we’ve found that Republicans are most likely to switch banks. Therefore, out of curiosity, we looked at this 7% through a political lens — and take a look at what we found:

Almost half of those who would consider getting a Wells Fargo account to access this new service are Republicans. Knowing this political affiliation, the bank can realistically guess at many of the causes and issues that these consumers care about, both as Republicans and as parents.

Note that due to rounding, the numbers don’t add to an even 100.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WELLS FARGO?

Just from our preliminary research, we can tell that Republicans from 35–54 years old (Gen X) are most likely to make the switch to Wells Fargo in order to access the bank’s new service. Additionally, many of these persuadable customers are parents.

Wells Fargo may want to continue targeting this group during the service’s roll out, and advertise the convenience and safety of these smartphone ATMs in the event of an emergency. With child safety at the top of parents’ minds, this may be a way to continue winning them over.

Interested in other insights? Check out our posts on the plight of financial literacy in America, student loans and retirement savings, and 8 brands that should get involved in politics.

Originally published at CivicScience.

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