2024 North American PaymentsInsights: U.S.: Generational Consumer Payment Trends

The economic environment of 2024 was particularly challenging. Consumers grappled with inflationary pressures and high interest rates among an economically uncertain market with a rising cost-of-living. Overall, we observed a marked shift towards credit products as consumers required them for their overall payment needs. 

This year we saw several trends among younger generations. Following what we observed last year, Gen Z reported an increased usage of general-purpose credit cards outpacing debit cards for the second year in a row. Products like private label credit and debit cards tended to be most popular with Millennials reflecting the diversity of card ownership among this generation. Both Gen Z and Millennials lead in adoption of digital wallets and app-based purchases as well as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and post-pay installment plans. 

Older generations remained consistent with trends observed in last year’s survey. We observed a strong preference and usage for credit and debit cards as well as paper checks, while still shying away from digital wallets and app-based payment methods. Newer forms of payment such as BNPL continue to be dominated by younger generations, while cryptocurrency is seeing strong usage among Gen X outpacing Gen Z. When it comes to the latest technology such as Pay-By-Bank, older generations expressed the most disinterest demonstrating their willingness to stay with what they are comfortable using for payments.

Highlights of the research report include: 

• Payment Methods & Usage 
• Debit Cards
• Credit
• P2P Payments 
• Digital Wallets 
• Real-Time Payments