Millennials Will Drive Payment Card Growth Studies Show

A study conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International showed that 51 percent of millennials prefer to use debit or credit cards over cash when purchasing items close to $5.

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are those born between the 1980s and 2000s.

The Princeton Survey Research Associates International, in a study conducted for CreditCards.com, surveyed a representative sample of 1,497 Americans in July 2014.

The study also revealed that those aged below 50 years old are more likely to use debit or credit cards for a $5 purchase compared to 50-year-olds and older.

The study showed that 46 percent of those below 50 years old prefer debit or credit cards; while only 21 percent of 50-year-olds and older prefer using debit or credit cards.

The Princeton Survey Research Associates International survey also showed that Americans who attended or graduated from college are considerably more comfortable than others with using plastic for small buys.

The survey found out that Americans who have children are more likely to use the cards for small buys (41 percent) than Americans without children (30 percent).

The person’s employment status also plays an important part in card use. The survey showed that cards are often used for small purchases by those employed (76 percent) than those unemployed (23 percent).

In its Prepaid and Gift Cards in the U.S., 4th Edition report, Packaged Facts (a division of MarketResearch.com) reported that 18 to 34-year-olds have an average of 2.3 prepaid cards in their wallets, making them the key drivers behind the prepaid card revenue surge.

Juniper Research, meanwhile, projected that the usage of online bill payments by the millennials will continue to rise in the next five years.