“Cash is king,” the saying goes. But younger generations prefer to use their debit and credit cards.
Nearly a third of Gen Z said people who use physical cash are “out of touch” or even “cringe,” according to a new Cash App survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults.
Beyond the ick cash seems to give them, 54% of Gen Z respondents said they’re more likely to spend without thinking when they use cash versus paying with a card. A similar share of millennials agreed, while just 33% of Gen X and 21% of baby boomers said they feel this way, the survey found.
“We are starting to see these generational divides around how people perceive cash,” says Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a financial therapist for Cash App.
“Older generations view cash as more real, more tangible,” Bryan-Podvin says, while Gen Zers and millennials are “not necessarily experiencing that same realness around cash.”
