I’m often accused of being a millennial luddite. Not to be confused with Ron-Swanson-level-aggressively-off-the-grid-real-life luddites, I just tend to take a while to warm up to technological advances. It was even my father who notoriously forced me to get with it and leave my disc-man behind for an iPod. There’s only one place in which I’ve been a technological progressive: banking. I was doing Internet-only banking long before it became widely accessible and en vogue.
When I got invited to Capital One’s Digital Banking Celebration in Washington, D.C. – I was most intrigued to connect with people there who weren’t banking digitally. And to find out what other people look for in financial products.
What do you value from a bank?
What you value most and what I value in a bank account or a credit card may be different, but I think we can all agree we want: simple, easy access, fast, reliable, secure and FREE. Capital One took the Today Show’s Mario Armstrong to Union Station in D.C. to do a survey with random people passing by and they found 69% of people think security is most important in banking and that 50% do most of their banking on the go. Personally, I only connect to my banking apps when on secured Wi-Fi. #JustSayin’
I got to interview Mario on Facebook Live at the event.
Using technology to manage your financial life
The mix of current Capital One customers I met in D.C. ran the age range from mid-twenties to early-seventies. Obviously, some were more digital natives than others. I asked one woman in her late sixties (as politely as I could) what brought her out to the event?
“I like my bank branch, but I know I need to learn how to use these things [pointing to my smartphone] to manage my money,” she told me.
She’s right. Not that bank branches are going to be eliminated anytime soon, but it’s prudent to have access to your financial 
information at your fingertips. Plus, why go into a bank to deposit a check when you can do it from home? As a freelancer, I’d pull my hair out if I had to go to the bank each time I got a check or had to wait until several came in before I went and deposited them into my account. Fun fact from the event: via Capital One’s Mobile Check Deposit feature, you have until 9 PM on business days to deposit checks into your accounts in order to have the funds available by the next business day.
You might have also seen me playing with Alexa if you follow me on Snapchat or Instagram. I have my Capital One Venture Card and my Capital One 360 Savings Account, which is also my Mosby emergency fund, linked to Alexa so I can ask for updates on my card balance or amount in my savings account. I could even tell Alexa to pay my bill. It makes me feel a bit like Alec Baldwin in the Super Bowl commercial last year asking Alexa to order new socks. Talk about going from millennial luddite to technologically engaged. Like I said, only with finances.
The big winner: free credit score access for all
While the Alexa is awesome and I’ll always extoll the virtues of Internet-only banking, the big winner of the night was CreditWise from Capital One. CreditWise gives you access to your credit score and you do not need to be a Capital One customer in order to use it. Like I said, the big winner. You can see me doing Facebook Live in this photo as I spoke to Carolina, who was operating the CreditWise booth.
After seeing all the big changes that have occurred since I first started online banking years ago, one big question remains: will I be able to keep up with banking technology when I’m 70? Here’s hoping!
This post was sponsored by Capital One.
I am the only one in my family who has never owned an iPod. I still have actual CD’s in my car. 🙂
I still have a deep love for CD’s. Everyone would always get weirded out when they would see a stack of CD’s in my car.
I totally want an Alexa so I too can feel a little like Alec Baldwin in a superbowl commercial, haha.
Technology has given us more tools for financial planning and tracking what’s happening in your account. However, on the other hand, there is also the lure of internet shopping that makes it much easier to get into debt.
In my opinion technology finds ways to keep your budget and time at the same time gets more for your money . As mentioned above it’s a great tool for keeping track of your financial goals and have a better time management.