Gen Z has never known a world without smartphones, apps, and instant access to information. It is easy to assume that this familiarity with technology makes digital banking adoption almost automatic.

Give younger account holders a modern banking app, the thinking goes, and they will intuitively understand how to use it.

The data tells a more complicated story.

According to the FDIC, 48.3% of banked U.S. households used mobile banking as their primary method of account access in 2023. Over the previous decade, the use of mobile banking as the primary access method increased nearly ninefold. ¹

Digital banking is no longer simply another service channel. For many account holders, it is the financial institution; however, access is not the same as understanding.

Logging into an app, checking a balance, or sending a payment does not mean an account holder recognizes everything the platform can do. It also does not mean that a person knows how to use those tools safely, confidently, or in ways that improve their financial life.

Gen Z may be digitally fluent, but that does not automatically make them digitally banked.

Financial institutions and technology providers have spent years improving digital banking. Today’s platforms may include budgeting tools, card controls, account alerts, person-to-person payments, credit monitoring, savings automation, mobile deposit, financial wellness resources, and increasingly sophisticated fraud-prevention features.

The capability is there, and the challenge is that many account holders interact with only a small portion of it.

They use digital banking for the tasks they already understand. They check their balance. They review transactions. They transfer money. Yet, more advanced or unfamiliar features can remain untouched because the account holder does not know they exist, does not understand their value, or is not confident enough to try them.

That is not necessarily a technology problem but is often an education problem.

A feature can be prominently displayed and still unnoticed. It can be intuitive once opened and still fail to attract first-time use. Offering real financial value and still feel irrelevant if no one explains when or why an account holder should use it.

When financial institutions treat implementation as the finish line, they risk mistaking availability for adoption.

The assumption that young adults will discover financial tools on their own becomes especially risky when we consider their level of financial knowledge.

The 2025 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index found that Gen Z respondents answered an average of only 38% of its financial literacy questions correctly, the lowest result among the generations studied. ²

This does not suggest that Gen Z is uninterested in managing money. It suggests that many young adults are being asked to make consequential financial decisions without a strong educational foundation.

A young account holder can open an account and begin moving money within minutes. The interface makes each transaction feel simple, but it does not necessarily explain what happens when a balance runs low, how an overdraft is triggered, or why establishing an emergency fund matters. As more of their financial activity moves through the app, the risks also become more complex. A fraudulent payment request may look like a routine notification, while protective tools such as account alerts remain unused because their value was never explained. The account holder knows how to complete a transaction, but not always how to understand its consequences or use the platform to protect their financial well-being.

Technology can make financial actions faster, but speed without understanding does not always lead to better outcomes.

Effective education connects the action inside the platform to the account holder’s real financial life. It explains not only which button to press, but also why the feature matters.

Gen Z already learns through digital content. The question is whether that education will come from a trusted financial institution or from an outside source.

TIAA research found that 65% of surveyed Gen Z adults followed financial institutions, advisors, financial content creators, or personal finance contacts on social media. One-third followed financial influencers specifically to learn more about money. ³

Gen Z is not waiting passively for financial information. They are actively seeking it. However, the information they find online may be incomplete, overly generalized, promotional, or incorrect.

Banks and credit unions already possess something many online creators do not: a trusted relationship connected to the account holder’s actual financial tools. That position becomes more valuable when the institution can provide clear, practical education at the moment it is needed.

A general article about protecting an account can be helpful. A short, branded tutorial showing an account holder exactly how to activate transaction alerts within the institution’s platform is actionable. A guide showing how to establish an automatic transfer turns awareness into behavior.

Education closes the distance between knowing that something is important and knowing how to do something about it.

The conversation about Gen Z and digital banking often focuses exclusively on personal accounts. That view is already becoming too narrow.

The oldest members of Gen Z are approaching 30. They are advancing in the workforce, accepting management responsibilities, participating in financial operations, and starting businesses of their own.

A 2026 entrepreneurship survey from Intuit QuickBooks found that Gen Z had the highest entrepreneurial intent of any generation surveyed, with 43% considering starting a business during the year. ⁴

This means Gen Z’s relationship with digital banking will increasingly extend beyond checking balances, depositing personal checks, and sending payments to friends.

A young professional may be asked to initiate an ACH payment, manage employee cards, deposit business checks, approve a wire, send an invoice, establish account permissions, or review a Positive Pay exception.

A small business owner may need to manage cash flow, separate personal and business finances, collect customer payments, pay employees, control account access, and protect the company from increasingly sophisticated fraud.

These are consequential responsibilities. Familiarity with consumer technology does not guarantee familiarity with commercial banking processes.

In fact, business digital banking can introduce an even larger education gap. Commercial platforms often include advanced features, multiple user roles, layered approvals, unfamiliar terminology, transaction limits, and security procedures that may not be self-explanatory to a first-time user.

For a small business, misunderstanding those tools can have immediate consequences. A missed approval can delay payroll. Incorrect permissions can create security risks. An unfamiliar fraud-control feature may remain inactive until after a preventable loss occurs.

This is why business banking education should not be reserved for a formal onboarding meeting or a call with a treasury management officer. Employees join companies; responsibilities change; businesses add services, and users frequently need help outside normal banking hours.

Clear, on-demand education gives each user a reliable way to understand both the process and the responsibility attached to it.

Financial institutions that educate Gen Z today are not only helping young consumers manage their first accounts. They are preparing future managers, authorized business users, and owners to build deeper commercial relationships with the institution tomorrow.

A link to a large help center is not an education strategy. Neither is expecting account holders to call support whenever a feature becomes confusing.

To improve adoption, financial institutions should make education part of the digital experience itself.

That means providing content that is:

Specific to the task. Account holders usually search for an answer to an immediate question. Education should focus on one action or outcome at a time.

Relevant to the platform. Generic instructions create friction when the screens, terminology, and navigation do not match what the account holder sees.

Available at the moment of need. Educational content should be easy to find during onboarding, after a product launch, within support communications, and when promoting underused features.

Short enough to use. A concise video or clearly organized guide can help someone complete a task without requiring a lengthy training experience.

Connected to an outcome. Showing an account holder how to turn on alerts is useful. Explaining that alerts can help identify suspicious transactions earlier gives the feature meaning.

Appropriate for the user’s role. A consumer, small business owner, bookkeeper, and commercial account administrator may use the same platform differently. Education should reflect those differences.

Accessible and consistent. Content should be usable across devices and designed so that all account holders can benefit from it.

This approach respects how Gen Z already consumes information. It also benefits every other generation that wants a fast, clear answer without calling a branch or contact center.

A 2025 Deloitte survey of 2,027 U.S. banking customers found that Gen Z and millennials demonstrated the highest risk of switching primary banks, even though satisfaction across generations remained between 93% and 95%. The study also found that nearly 70% of surveyed Gen Z and millennial consumers had authorized their banks to share data with other financial providers.⁵

ounger consumers are comfortable assembling their financial lives across multiple apps. Their bank or credit union is important, but it is not guaranteed to remain at the center of that ecosystem.

This makes education more than a support function. It is a relationship strategy.

When an institution consistently helps account holders understand their options, use valuable features, protect their accounts, and make informed decisions, the institution becomes more useful.

The connection is straightforward:

Adoption should never be measured only by how many people use a feature. Financial institutions must also consider whether account holders understand how to use digital tools safely.

J.D. Power reported in 2025 that 43% of surveyed Gen Z customers had experienced checking, savings, or debit fraud during the previous 12 months, while 41% had experienced credit card fraud. The study connected this increased exposure partly to Gen Z’s greater use of debit cards and digital person-to-person payment apps. ⁶

These figures reinforce why digital education cannot stop at just navigational instructions.

Account holders need to understand how to identify suspicious requests, protect login credentials, use card controls, establish alerts, recognize payment scams, manage user permissions, and respond when something goes wrong.

The safest account holder is not necessarily the one who uses the fewest digital tools. It is the one who understands how those tools work and how to use them responsibly.

Financial institutions have already made substantial investments in digital banking technology. The next opportunity is to make sure account holders understand the value of what has been built.

This is particularly important for Gen Z, but it is not exclusively a generational issue. Every new feature creates an education requirement. Every platform update introduces a learning curve. Every fraud trend creates another reason to communicate clearly.

At Murphy & Company, we help financial institutions address that gap through branded, platform-specific user guides and educational videos. The goal is not simply to explain a digital banking platform. It is to help consumers, employees, and business users confidently use more of the tools their financial institution already provides.

Digital banking is not “solved” when an institution launches an app.

It is solved by one task at a time, when an account holder understands what a tool can do, why it matters, and how to use it successfully.

1. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 2023 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households

2. TIAA Institute and Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, 2025 Personal Finance Index

3. TIAA Institute, Only 20% of Gen Z Are Saving for Retirement

4. Intuit QuickBooks, Entrepreneurship in 2026

5. Deloitte Center for Financial Services, Gen Z and Millennials Are More Alike Than Banks May Assume

6. J.D. Power, 2025 U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study