Which means of payment do young people use more frequently in the age of digitalization?
A Schufa survey says that young people aged 16 to 25 increasingly prefer digital payment via banking app and smartphone. Looking ahead, they estimate that digital payment options such as mobile payment and cryptocurrencies will become the dominant payment methods. Interestingly, young people prefer to pay with cash instead of credit cards or smartphones, although they are usually more technically gifted and have a positive attitude towards technology. Even their parent’s generation have a similar attitude towards payment. This only seems to change slowly.
Why are there hardly any differences to the older generation?
According to Schufa, about 60 percent of the young people surveyed only have insufficient to sufficient knowledge about the financial sector. The respondents are influence by their parents and orient themselves towards their parents. Their financial behavior is based on continuous saving, rejection of installment payments and financial cushions. These reasons explain the conservative financial behavior of young people. But young people do not only listen to parents' advice, but also acquire their financial knowledge through print media, the internet, television, banks and school.
Why is cash payment so popular?
The lack options can be one of the reasons for this conservative financial behavior. A third of respondents would like to see more ways to pay via mobile phone being implemented. 50 percent of young people are hoping for more options regarding contactless payment via debit and credit cards. Nevertheless, concerns for safety remain. For this reason, more than half of young people prefer cash payments to digital payment methods. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents are certain that digital payment methods are more convenient than classic cash payments. It will be exciting to see how the payment industry develops in the future.
