Why Do Millennials Love Using Credit Cards?

The majority of Canadians are well aware of the many amazing benefits provided to them by credit cards. By choosing them as their favourite of all payment options, credit card users enjoy collecting reward points, getting cash back and having the flexibility to extend payments over time. And our younger generation has certainly caught on! As Elise Amendola reports in The Globe and Mail, millennials are big-time credit card users.

95 percent of millennials have at least one credit card.

“In a recent survey, 27 per cent of millennials said they spent more than half of their disposable income using credit cards, compared to 16 per cent of boomers,” she informs, “Ninety-five per cent of millennials reported having at least one credit card, compared to 80 per cent of boomers. While boomers were pretty much evenly split between cash back, travel reward and low-interest cards, millennials strongly preferred cash back and travel cards.”

These findings significantly contradict the previously-popular notion that young people prefer cash over credit. While there appears to be a widespread concern that millennials may find themselves quickly falling into debt because of their credit card usage, there are studies that show that credit cards are growing in popularity amongst those aged between 25 to 34 – ages that fall into the “millennial” bracket.

“83% of Millennials age 25 to 34 use credit cards, according to research from FICO,” reports Kate Ashford on Forbes.com, “In fact, about half of respondents have at least three cards, and one in five plan on using credit cards to buy big ticket items, such as a new car.”

What is it about credit cards that millennials so enjoy?

As mentioned earlier, credit card usage has its benefits, and our younger generation is no stranger to them. Believe it or not, millennials are quite savvy and are aware of how to get as much bang for their bucks as possible. As Ashford points out, 75 percent of millennials value cards with no annual fee and 71 percent like to receive cash back rewards.

“They also favour cards that offer account notifications (56%) and enhanced security (53%),” she writes, “This comes as no surprise, based on another recent FICO survey that found that one in three Millennials has closed all bank accounts after a fraud incident—they think security is important.”

It also bears repeating that millennials love to shop online. Last week, in our “Why Do Millennials Love Shopping Online?” blog, we wrote about the fact that young people are clever bargain hunters who enjoy browsing items and comparing prices between various company websites. In addition, millennials make great use of their mobile devices in order to shop online.

Of course, to participate in online shopping, one must have a credit card as it is the number one way that people pay for purchases when buying products over the internet.

So, is your business taking advantage of the fact that millennials love using credit cards?

For more information about how you can begin to accept credit cards in your store, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost. Be sure to ask us about our Countertop and Wireless POS terminal options!