Americans prefer credit cards when shopping, both online and in store

A Mercator Advisory Group consumer survey has revealed Americans prefer using credit cards when shopping, both online and when shopping in person.

The study highlights consumers’ use of credit cards, relative to other payment types, the use of credit card controls, reward programs, new account opening, among other topics.

When shopping in stores, 43% of US consumers prefer to use credit/charge cards, followed by 32% who prefer to use debit and 17% who opt for cash.

Compared to last year’s survey, more consumers report that merchants are trying to influence their method of paying. For example, this year 59% report that they have seen signs posed by merchants stating credit card minimums, up from 52% in 2018.  Also, 46% report stores offering discounts for cash, a result that is up from 40% in 2018.

Consumers are reporting more fraud on their credit cards this year.  In 2019, 31% reported some kind of fraud on their credit cards compared to 24% who did so last year.

With regard to credit card rewards, cash back is still the most common reward earned by US cardholders. Currently, 64% of cardholders are getting cash back from at least one issuer of the credit cards they hold. Non-travel related points are the second most common reward, which 4 in 10 cardholders report receiving.

Credit Cards: Still the Card of Choice is based on a sample of 3,002 US adults surveyed in the annual online Payments survey of Mercator’s North American PaymentsInsights series, conducted in June 2019.