The top 3 reasons why a debit card is their preferred payment method
Much has been written about millennials and the habits they possess that seem foreign to older generations. Their style of dress, their priorities, and even the way they approach and interact with the world is markedly different. Much of this can be put down to their digital citizenship. Millennials can be considered digital natives, while older generations can be seen as digital immigrants. They have grown up in a technological world, where they began manipulating and interacting with the things around them in the digital space from early on in their lives. This upbringing seeps into every aspect of their being, including their spending habits. For millennials, debit is king, not cash. But why is that?
Connectedness
The millennial generation is all about connecting their activities for ease and convenience. Debit cards allow this generation to quickly organize and analyze their spend over the course of time. With cash, a running, written tally has to be kept to see where money is going and how it is being spent. This is not the case when debit purchases make up the majority of your spend.
The connectedness of a debit card and the online records it keeps are simply part of the millennial makeup, and what they’ve come to expect from the world they are living in. Why pay with paper, and manually keep track of spend, when the simple swipe of a card will ensure that transaction is recorded and organized for later consideration? Simply put, millennials are all about streamlined processes, and a debit card offers that in a neat and tidy package.
Flexibility and Safety
Debit cards are safer than carrying cash, agree most millennials in recent studies. If you lose cash, cash is gone. If you lose a debit card, you can simply shut down the card and dispute any fraudulent charges. These built-in safety features allow millennials to move around more freely.
The convenience factor is an important consideration too. Millennials prioritize “living in the moment” more highly than past generations, per a study by Visa. This characteristic means that they are used to being on the go, and are more willing to make sudden, spur of the moment plans and decisions. Debit cards offer the freedom to do just that, without worrying if they have enough cash to complete a task or excursion.
Online Shopping
Online shopping has seen the largest growth of any market in recent history. Up to 50% of all purchases are completed online, and millennials are making a lot of those purchases. Whether they are buying concert tickets, paying back a friend through peer-to-peer spending apps, or ordering groceries or food, it all happens online. A card is simply required for these types of purchases and millennials enjoy the ease and convenience of online shopping in droves.
Basically, they need a credit or debit card to exist online, and they are happy to oblige to enjoy the expanses of the internet and all that online shopping has to offer.
Debit cards have outpaced the use of cash in recent years. They have even outpaced the use of credit cards. Millennials would appear to be one of the most vocal adopters of the payment method. For a group that is steering away from credit and cash, debit cards are simply the option that makes the most sense. They can access their money quickly and conveniently, they don’t have to carry cash, and they get the experience of digital connectedness that they require.
With all that being said, debit cards are a solid payment option for all demographics, regardless of age. The millennials are absolutely onto to something.
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