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How to Identify and Acquire the Most Profitable Thin-File Customers

When you look at a mountain it’s impossible to know if there’s gold buried inside. For lenders, the mountain of thin-files—a group of 62 million people in the US alone—holds a potential vein of gold. 

Thin-file customers may have little or no credit history, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be great customers. But do you have the right tools to find the ones worth mining?

For financial marketers, striking gold with thin-file customers begins with knowing where to look, then knowing how to reach them.

Gen Z is a Potential Goldmine

Gen Zers hold $143 billion in spending power today, and Bank of America estimates that by 2030 their global income will reach $33 trillion.

Gen Zers are also the hardest customers to qualify for financial products—more than 80% of 18- and 19-year-olds are credit invisible. And many Gen Zers are just entering the workforce and have low incomes. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16- to 19-year-olds in the US earn an average salary of just under $24,000

But Gen Zers are a lucrative audience because they are just beginning to build their financial habits and brand perceptions. If you can acquire and nurture them while they’re young, they’ll be loyal customers when they’re adults and earning more money. You won’t have to wait long either. Once they turn 25, they’re average salary nearly doubles.

But where do you find Gen Zers, and how do you attract the most qualified ones? Colleges and the military are a great place to start, and personalized offers will catch their attention.

Reduce Your Risk with Digitally Verified Personalized Offers

The first step to acquiring these hidden customers is to invite them into your brand with a personalized offer based on their life stage or affiliation, such as a special credit card for college students or a low-interest loan for military members. 

Then, when they apply for your offer, you digitally verify them with SheerID’s Verification Platform.

SheerID verifies four attributes that helps you identify good-risk customers. 

01 Employment

Confirming a Gen Zer is employed makes them much more qualified for things like a small personal loan. SheerID can instantly verify whether an applicant is employed by one of 51 million businesses in the US, using authoritative data.

02 Identity

Knowing a person is actually who they say they are lowers your risk. Verifying a Gen Zer’s identity helps you reduce fraud and comply with AML regulations.

03 Student Status

Pursuing a college degree requires a commitment and responsibility, which are good traits for a customer to have. SheerID can verify that an applicant is currently enrolled in one of more than 88,000 colleges or universities around the world. This gives you access to 235 million students in 191 countries. And campaigns that offer student credit cards have incredible potential. In the US alone, college students have $594 billion spending power.

04 Military Status

Members of the military work hard and earn a good living. SheerID can verify active duty and reservist soldiers, veterans, retirees, members of the national guard, and military spouses and dependents. This lets you tap into a community of 37 million consumers with $1.2 trillion in spending power. 

And many military prospects are Gen Zers who fall into the thin-file category: 46% of active duty soldiers are between 17 – 24 years old. Offering military credit cards and loans can be a lucrative strategy to bring them into your brand while they are still forming brand relationships.

The Security and Simplicity You Need

SheerID uses 200,000 authoritative data sources to verify customers. The platform integrates seamlessly into your application workflow, making verification a quick step that occurs entirely within your brand experience. And when you verify student and military customers, you collect zero-party data that makes it easy to nurture their loyalty.

Using SheerID to verify Gen Z applicants can help you acquire millions of qualified thin-file customers you might otherwise overlook. Giving students and the military a personalized offer is a great strategy for winning the next generation of loyal customers.

Read the ebook: Simplify Personalization – How Financial Services Can Win the Next Generation of Customers.

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