Use of debit cards on the rise, Deloitte consumer payments survey reveals

Deloitte has found that 52% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials in our survey would prefer to use debit cards most.

This trend may hinder credit cards’ prospects is the growing use of debit cards, especially among younger consumers. To that end, Deloitte asked about specific digital apps— for instance, 42% of millennials who use Apple Pay in the survey use debit cards, compared with only 23% of Gen X survey respondents. The pattern is similar for Google Pay, with 41% of millennial users of Google Pay preferring debit cards compared with 29% of baby boomers.

The new consumer survey from the Deloitte Center for Financial Services aims to shed light on the magnitude of these challenges and offer recommendations for how credit card issuers could revive their relevance and profitability going forward.

One-quarter of consumers surveyed are willing to switch their credit card provider over the next two years to obtain better rewards elsewhere. Younger consumers – 34% of Gen Z and millennials – are even more likely to switch.

69% of surveyed respondents said they would find a credit card that offered personalised features appealing. When survey respondents were asked to choose their top five rewards categories, traditional offerings such as gas, restaurants, groceries, airline tickets, and hotels topped the list.

However, younger customers showed more interest in customisable rewards, such as clothing and apparel (chosen by 41% of Gen Z customers versus 23% of Gen Xers) or music streaming (chosen by 21% of Gen Z customers versus 3% of boomers).