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Data for this episode of Truth In Data provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report – U.S. Consumers and Debit: Fewer Use It for Purchases
- Despite debit’s decline of fewer users, debit is still popular.
- When U.S consumers were ask their single most preferred payment method in stores…
- Seniors were twice as likely to prefer credit cards to debit cards however young adults were more likely to prefer using debit cards.
- Cash is the next most preferred payment type in stores.
- Cash is preferred more by young adults than older adults, especially 18 -24 year old who are twice as likely as average to prefer using cash.
- Credit card are increasingly preferred online at retailers and for travel, digital content, and now even bill payment.
- Younger adults use more payment options then older adults.
About the report
The latest Insight Summary Report from Mercator Advisory Group’s CustomerMonitor Survey Series reveals that 54% of all respondents use debit cards for purchases and that figure has declined steadily since 2011, the year following the enactment of the Durbin Amendment. The report, U.S. Consumers and Debit: Fewer Use It for Purchases, presents the findings of an online survey of 3,002 U.S. adults conducted in June 2018.
While consumer ownership of debit cards remains strong and people who have recently opened a checking account are even more likely than average to own a debit card for transactions, the percentage of all U.S. consumers and even those that own debit cards who report using their debit card for transactions is declining.
Today, more U.S. consumers, especially seniors are more likely to use credit cards than any other payments in stores. Young adults and adults whose annual household income is less than $75,000, however, are still more likely to use debit cards than credit cards in stores.
Only half of debit card users report using their card for online purchases. The perception of greater online security with credit cards (41%), fear of checking account compromise (30%), and lack of rewards when using debit cards (30%) are the main reasons consumers do not use debit cards online.
As U.S. consumers make a greater share of purchases online and by mobile using a wider range of payment options, they often prefer credit cards to debit cards online. And with the rising use of online payment services, consumers may start to bypass traditional payment cards and keep funds in their payment service rather than transfer it back to their checking account.
