Discussion Paper

Millennials with money revisited: updates from the 2014 Consumer Payments Monitor

Abstract: Overall growth in general purpose reloadable prepaid card ownership was not as robust between 2013 and 2014 as it was between 2012 and 2013 except in one notable segment: high-income Millennials. This same demographic group also exhibited a strong propensity to use alternative financial services along with traditional bank products. This paper further explores this group of ?hybrid? financial services consumers. It also examines the broader use of financial services by young adults and reports on ways in which their choices differ from those of older consumers, along with evidence that conventional services are also used to the same ? in some cases, even greater ? degree as their parents? and grandparents? generations. The findings are sometimes counterintuitive, particularly with regard to some stereotypes about this young generation that have been put forth. Because of the size of this cohort, their behaviors could influence what the future of financial services consumption and delivery may look like.

Keywords: GPR prepaid cards; Millennials; Alternative financial services; General purpose reloadable cards; ;

JEL Classification: D1;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Part of Series: Consumer Finance Institute discussion papers

Publication Date: 2015-12-22

Number: 15-6

Pages: 26 pages