Stuart Sopp | Source | Chief Executive Officer at Current

“I’m sure Amazon is scaring the hell out of every single regional bank and credit union right now. The banks have very clearly not serviced these demographics, so there’s opportunity.”

To achieve financial health, the idea of financial education or financial literacy needs to change from one focused on gaining knowledge to one focused on changing behavior, which is more about financial capability than education. The U.S. economy today is different from that of previous generations in that products are the driving force of behavior, said Current CEO Stuart Sopp, and that calls for an overhaul in the way products are designed.

“Teaching someone something is a very paternal thing we’ve seen in this capitalist economy and we’re into this really different economy now,” he said. “We’ve recognized a marked difference in the independence of this generation… There are probably more adults than in previous generations that get things like saving and investing and are driving the conversation home much more so than in previous generations. So you have to build tools in a way that is different to previous generations.”

“The most successful entrants [to the banking industry] will provide novel product features that satisfy their user’s needs that no incumbent can provide or is willing to offer. Our path to scale involves working with teenagers, a tricky demographic that institutions have avoided.”