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Education

A rising force in While millennials can recall the "good ole
days" of commercials and accessing the In-
payments – Generation Z ternet through AOL, Generation Z will likely
have to google AOL to know what we are
talking about. They not only are digital na-
Zavida Mangaru tives, but the Internet they grew up with
was already ruled by Google, Facebook and
North American Bancard Amazon.

t's a remarkable time to be alive. Looking back to how people When it comes to digital payments and elec-
lived 30 years ago presents a striking contrast and reveals how tronic banking, we have seen a slow but
truly futuristic our lives have become. How did we change so significant change across the generations in
I much so fast? A generation of millennials harnessed the power terms of how we pay for things and man-
of a burgeoning Internet and reimagined how we live our lives – age our personal finances. We've gone from
everything from how we catch a ride to how we watch TV and interact writing checks to swiping cards to a quick
online. While their influence is felt across the board, a new force is tap with a phone. Yet there is much more that
rising: Generation Z. can be done to streamline payment process-
ing, and the rate of change has never been
While many assume Generation Z will be much like the millennials, greater. While millennials have been patient
there are some important differences. Born from the mid-1990s (because they still remember checks and can
through approximately 2014, Generation Z has grown up with iPhones, appreciate how far we have come), Genera-
apps, Wi-Fi, "hip" social media (that is, Snapchat and Instagram) and tion Z will not be.
constant connectivity.
Understanding Generation Z

To understand this demographic better and
how they think about the payment process,
a March 2016 Forbes article provided the fol-
lowing insights into the characteristics of
this growing demographic:
• Tuned in and socially connected, for
Gen Z, there is almost no separation be-
tween online and real life.
• Technology is central to every aspect of
their lives, from socializing to school-
work, entertainment to exercise, relax-
ation to reference.
No Good Merchant • Transparency will likely become even
more important as Gen Z begins mak-
Left Behind. ing more of their own purchasing deci-
sions.
• They are at an impressionable and in-
− CNP Specialists − Retail Experts quisitive age in which they are busy
− Industry Leading − Latest Next Day Funding forming perceptions of the companies,
Portfolio Management Window in the Industry brands, products and marketing mes-
sages they encounter daily.
• With so much knowledge at their fin-
Learn More gertips, there is no excuse not to know
866.272.5247 something.
emsagent.com With 74 million individuals strong, and
counting, Generation Z makes up almost
Established 1988 one-quarter of the U.S. population. Their
mark on the world will be felt across many
aspects of our daily lives, and the electronic
One Merchant At A Time
payments industry will be no exception.

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