Gen Z consumers prefer to pay using cash, says a Bank of America Global Research survey conducted in ten countries across the globe. They also put quality above price, prefer material goods to experiences such as travel, and are averse to taking on debt, whether through credit cards or loans.
Gen Z—consisting of 2.5 billion people born between 1996 and 2015—is the first generation to have no experience of a pre-internet world. Given 95 percent of U.S. teens have access to a smartphone and 45 percent say they are online ‘almost constantly’, it may seem surprising they are also more likely to choose cash than older generations. However, the debt aversion highlighted by Bank of America’s research may go some way to explaining this, alongside the complete absence of credit cards from their top payment choices.
