Psst. The younger people on your holiday gift list want money or gift cards instead of physical presents, but it's awkward to ask, according to a new Wells Fargo survey.
Forty-five percent of Gen Z and 42% of millennials prefer to receive digital payments, compared to 27% of Gen X and 10% of Baby Boomers, according to a Year-End Gifting survey of more than 2,000 people. USA TODAY was given an exclusive first look at the study.
"I feel like we're influenced by our parents' generation a little bit in the sense that we're kind of taught that it's not OK (to ask for money)," Steve Selfridge, Wells Fargo product management director, told USA TODAY. But if you ask for an honest answer from young relatives in their teens to 20s, "they prefer to have money so they can do what they want with it."
There is a bit of a disconnect between the feelings of gift givers and receivers when it comes to gifting money, said Selfridge.
Giving physical presents is still the most popular, with 65% of people surveyed saying they prefer to give a physical gift while 55% like to receive one. Fifty-four percent of people prefer giving gift cards and 56% like receiving them.
