Young people between 18 and 27 years old (Gen Z) have been found to value diversity and flexibility in their finances across established and emerging methods.
A survey of over 2,000 18 to 27-year-olds in the US and UK, has revealed that 67% of Gen Zers have at least one investment. Members of this generation invest in cryptocurrency (24%) as much as equities (22%). Nonetheless, they claimed to trust traditional banks (35%) far more than online-only neobanks (5%).
Moreover, Gen Z’s interest in rewards and education was seen as a common thread, according to the conclusions of the ZBD Gen Z Payments Study.
The report claimed Gen Z is “the rewarded generation”, stressing that a staggering 86% of Gen Z believe that cashback and loyalty rewards are an important part of making a purchase, and 99% say financial education is important.
“Our research shows that Gen Z is far from unreachable for the financial services industry; however, it’s true that there’s no one single touchpoint for them,” said Ben Cousens, Chief Strategy Officer at ZBD.
“What’s clear is that they expect their engagement with and loyalty to retailers, merchants, platforms and providers to be meaningfully rewarded, not just acknowledged. This paradigm shift is both being powered by and is set to radically alter the payments and fintech landscape.”
In terms of payment methods, Gen Z said they regularly use both debit cards (62%) and cash (57%), though usage of digital-first payment methods such as apps (45%) and digital wallets (48%) has overtaken credit cards (41%).
The survey was conducted by Atomik Research on behalf of ZBD.
