Abstracts Education

Exploring How Financial Knowledge and Generations Impact the Adoption Rate of Financial Technology

by Jonathan M Conner

This study observes how different generations use and adopt financial technology. Specifically, it explores how generations use mobile banking, mobile transfer, and mobile payment technology. These generations consist of Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and The Greatest Generation. Generation Z consists of individuals born after 1996. Millennials consist of individuals born from 1981 to 1996. Gen Xers were born from 1965 to 1980. The Baby Boomer generation include individuals born from 1946 to 1964. The Greatest Generation consists of individuals born before 1946 (Pew Research Center, 2019). It also explores the role of financial knowledge plays in adopting and using financial technology. The technologies observed for this study included technologies specializing in mobile banking, mobile transfers, and mobile payments. This study utilized a dataset from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS).The results from this study concluded that younger generations are significantly more likely to use and adopt financial technology. Each generation is more likely to use and adopt financial technology than the generation that came before it. This study also concluded that financial knowledge is significant factor in the adoption and usage of financial technology. Individuals with a high level of financial knowledge and confidence were found to be more likely to use and adopt fintech than those with a lower level of financial knowledge and confidence. This study found implications for marketing financial technology to different demographics and found new education services specifically centered around financial technology. This will enable individuals to have more confidence when dealing with new services and will allow more consumers to have access to financial technology.