Over time, payment methods have evolved from bartering to cash to the bitcoin. Making up one-fourth of the U.S. population, millennials are expected to be early adopters of the latest technology, abandoning cash and embracing mobile and other new and innovative payment methods. However, a recent study from Accel and Qualtrics provided surprising insight on the payment habits of young people.

While millennials seem to have one foot firmly planted in the future, one is still in the past, particularly when it comes to how they shop and make payments:

Cash is Still King

The study found that more millennials are using cash than debit cards, with 80% reporting that they use cash, and 64% reporting that they carry cash a majority of the time.

Checks Are Still Alive

Here?s a big shocker: 42% of millennials still write checks. What?s even more surprising is that there?s more millennials writing checks than owning a video game console, which comes in at just 34%. ?Who would?ve thought?

Millennials= Early Adopters

On the contrary, millennials are 16 times more likely to use new technology like Apple Pay than baby boomers, and six times more likely than older generations to make payments through Venmo. According to a recent Accenture survey, 23% of millennials use contactless payments at least once a week.

How Millennials Shop

When shopping for groceries, books and clothing, millennials prefer to visit brick and mortar stores. They also prefer to shop in person for cars, jewelry and sport equipment. For electronics, the majority shops online.

What Does This Mean for Merchants?

It?s important for merchants to accept the forms of payment that their customers prefer to use, and to make the payment process as seamless as possible. If merchants want customers to visit their website or place of business and make purchases, they must provide an easy way for them to pay. As technology continues to advance, retailers must keep up with the trends or risk getting left behind.

Here at Aliant, we are proud to offer technology that supports credit, debit, electronic check, chip cards, and mobile wallet applications like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. To learn more, or to get started, contact us or call us at 888.638.6103.