During the past decade, the digitalization and democratization of access to financial services have transformed how people interact with money and institutions. This, according to an update shared by Nubank (NYSE: NU).
Nubank pointed out in its latest update that although in the past, people used in-person means to pay bills (bank branches – 33% and ATMs – 32%) and “check balances (bank branches – 25% and ATMs – 39%), today 66% of Brazilians use financial apps as the primary means for these services.”
These data are part of the study “The New Relationship with Money,” conducted by the Ipsos Institute at the request of Nubank, “involving 1,800 participants from generations Z, Millennials, X, and Baby Boomers in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.”
Generation Z, consisting of consumers aged 18 to 251, is said to “lead the wave of abandoning non-digital services.”
One in four young individuals in this age group has “never made a deposit at an ATM, and 14% have never withdrawn cash from these machines.”
The major consensus among all generations is “the use of Pix, which is the most frequently used service.”
On average, three out of four respondents “regularly perform transactions via Pix.”
The main source of financial education for “approximately 4 in 10 respondents is financial institutions’ websites or apps.”
Next, in the three countries mapped, the priority sources of information on the topic are digital content “dedicated to the topic, such as social media (30%), websites specialized in financial education (29%), and news websites and blogs (25%).”
In Brazil, the figure of the bank manager “represents only the fifth option as a reference in the search for information.”
The survey reveals a “growing interest” in financial education.
In Brazil, 84% of respondents seek information on this subject, “which is increasingly prevalent at younger ages.”
This figure rises to 95% in Colombia. Among the generations, while more than half of Boomers said they “never had financial education, 70% of generation X and 81% of Millennials have had some level of instruction.”
When it comes to investment tips, 66% of Brazilians and “over 70% of Mexicans and Colombians expect their financial institutions to provide recommendations about the topic.”
In Brazil, although money is still associated with some level of concern for many people and related to words like “expenses,” “accounts,” and “control,” other terms like “planning,” “future,” and “investments” also appear among the most cited.
In all three surveyed countries, money has ceased to be “merely a resource to solve problems and has come to signify planning and the future.”
The survey reveals that saving “money, especially for emergencies, is a priority in all countries for all age groups and income levels.”
About half of the respondents cited “emergency fund” as the main investment goal. The habit of investing is recent: 50% of Brazilians started investing in the last two years, while “in Colombia and Mexico, this figure is 42% and 44%, respectively.”
Nearly all respondents (94% from Brazil and Colombia and 97% from Mexico) in the three surveyed countries say they feel “secure or neutral about online transactions.”
Technology is also seen by Brazil, Colombia and Mexico users “as a facilitator for financial organization.”
For 80% of Brazilian survey participants, simply being able to “check their balance on an app contributes to financial control and planning, and financial institution apps are currently the main tool for organizing the monthly budget.”
Millennials surpass other generations in “almost all methods of monthly planning, suggesting they are the group most attentive to this issue, seeking varied solutions from apps to spreadsheets.”
Across all generations, the prevalent age to start “learning about the topic was in their 20s, suggesting that Generation Z is just at the moment of having their first contact.”
Methodology
For the survey, Ipsos used an online questionnaire to survey “1,800 people equally divided among Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, from all regions and income levels and four age groups starting at 18 years old.”
Generation Definitions
- Generation Z: 18 to 25 years old
- Generation Y (Millennials): 26 to 40 years old
- Generation X: 41 to 60 years old
- Baby Boomers: 61+ years old
Study ˜The New Relationship with Money˜ carried out by Ipsos at the request of Nubank in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, “representative of each country between 2024/20/09 and 2024/30/09.”
1,800 interviews were carried out (600 in each country) “between Men and Women aged 18 to 55 from the middle/upper classes who have financial services in general (current/savings account, credit card, investments, or loans).”
The margin of error “is 4.0p.p.”
