Why young people do not use bank products - the case of Poland

Young people are a group of clients that are increasingly being served by commercial banks. Although usage of bank accounts, web portals or mobile applications to manage private money becomes a necessity for younger generations, a large part of children, youths and young adults remain unbanked. The main purpose of the paper is to characterise the profile of young people (up to 26 years of age) that do not use banking products and services. The authors investigated the reasons and terms for not adopting banking offers by children, youths and young adults. The paper also identifies the factors supporting financial inclusion of the aforementioned groups, as well as the time perspective of bank products being adopted by young people. The authors analysed literature and conducted survey research on a group of young people with the CAWI technique, as well as using non-parametric statistical tests and multivariate logistic regression to evaluate quantitatively the phenomenon. The main reason for not using banking products was being too young and lack of need, but not a lack of offers. The statistical analysis pointed out that the fundamental factor influencing the non-use of banking products was the level of education. The most important factors stimulating the financial inclusion of young people were lack of fees and attractive promotions. Young people as a rule declared the possibility of becoming bank clients in the long-term perspective.