LevLane Advertising, one of Philadelphia’s largest independent full-service advertising agencies, announced the results of its “2024 Future of Cash Survey.” The national survey explores generational perspectives and expectations about the future of cash, revealing a complex landscape of preferences between Generation Z (18-29 years), millennials (30-44 years), Generation X (45-60 years) and baby boomers (61+ years).
In a surprising twist, nearly 70% of Gen Z, despite their tech savviness, said they would not prefer a transition to a completely cashless society. This unexpectedly aligns them with almost 80% of baby boomers who share the same sentiment.
“This data has shown us something quite unexpected: Both Gen Z and boomers aligned more closely than any other generations on their resistance to a cashless society,” said Liz Weir, chief marketing officer at LevLane. “Not only that, but the results challenge our traditional views on tech adoption and common perceptions of Gen Z as digital-only consumers.”
Despite the growing trend toward digital wallets, transactions and banking, 36% of Americans believe a cashless society will never materialize.
While only 5% of Gen Z believe a cashless society will emerge within the next five years, 29% of the same age group expect it within the next decade, showing cautious optimism.
This contrasts sharply with Gen X, where 23% anticipate a cashless society within the next five years.
When asked how they feel about the potential of a cashless society, the most commonly cited concerns across all age groups were privacy and security (21%) and anxiety about accessibility and inclusivity (21%).
In terms of payment preferences, 63% of boomers prefer using credit cards for online purchases, outpacing all other age groups. This strong preference for credit cards highlights the older generation’s slow adoption of mobile wallets (1%) and peer-to-peer payment apps (5%). Boomers were also most likely (47%) to use credit cards for in-store purchases. By contrast, Gen X was the group least likely to use credit cards for either online (34%) or in-store purchases (26%).
“To truly understand the preferences of the different generations, businesses should prioritize building trust and brand loyalty through targeted marketing strategies,” said Weir. “Our survey data clearly shows that we can’t generalize across age groups. Instead, we need to dig deeper, challenge the conventional wisdom and develop approaches that truly resonate with each distinct group.”
Generational preferences on a cashless society:
- Gen Z (18-29 years): Only 30% favor a cashless society, while 70% would not prefer it.
- Millennials (30-44 years): 45% favor a cashless society, while 55% would not prefer it.
- Gen X (45-60 years): 42% favor a cashless society, while 58% would not prefer it.
- Baby boomers (61 years and up): Only 20% favor a cashless society, while 79% would not prefer it.
Additional survey findings:
- Rewards and cashback offers significantly influence payment method choices, with 44% of consumers swayed by these incentives. This preference is most pronounced among baby boomers (49%), indicating that older consumers are particularly responsive to financial incentives.
- Millennials show the highest adoption of mobile wallets for both in-store (10%) and online (12%) purchases among all age groups. However, overall usage remains low, indicating that while this generation is at the forefront of digital payment methods, widespread adoption is still on the horizon.
- When asked how important it is that their bank provides innovative digital payment options, 58% of respondents across all age groups indicated that innovative digital options were important.
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