A white picket fence, two cars and a cottage isn’t every American’s dream. Certainly, it’s not mine. (Which is a good thing – I’d be a long way off from affording the lifestyle.) Some simply dream to take impromptu vacations to Costa Rica, while others just hope to buy a solid bed without busting the bank account.
The items consumers aspire to own should shape the products lenders offer them, especially if those “dreams” are shifting. Credit cards aren’t good enough for a different kind of dreamer.
“We built our reputation around auto insurance on the premise someone needs a car,” Neff Hudson, assistant vice president of emerging channels at USAA, tells Bank Innovation. “They might just rent cars….How do we insure that? They might never need a car loan. …It just means the standard of American dream might change.”
With the evolution of what Americans hope to buy comes the need for banks to offer the unconventional dreamers more personalized loans, argues Hudson.
“Maybe buying a home isn’t what we aspire to do,” Hudson says. “Maybe we want flexible credit to cover a vacation and to cover other things other than a mortgage. We need to get much more personal in products. People are looking for flexibility.”
I know I am.