Gen Z is using credit cards more and amassing credit card debt at a faster pace than millennials, according to reports.
About 84% of Gen Z members who were between the ages of 22 to 24 in the fourth quarter of 2023 had a general-use credit card, compared to only 61% among millennials at that age in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a report by consumer credit agency TransUnion.
Gen Z is also amassing credit card debt faster than older generations. While they had less overall debt, the average credit card debt of Gen Z members of personal finance company Credit Karma rose by 3.21% between the first and second quarters of this year, compared to a rise of only 2.41% among Millennials.
Maxed-out cards are also more common for Gen Z, at 15.3%, compared to only 12.1% of millennials, 9.6% of people in Gen X and 4.8% of baby boomers, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Gen Z users of Credit Karma have slightly worse credit scores than their elders with a second-quarter average of 659, compared to 670 for millennials, 674 for Gen X, 716 for baby boomers and 739 for the “Silent Generation.”
The TransUnion Gen Z cohort had more people with auto loans, at 30%, as opposed to 25% among same-aged millennials in 2013.
More millennials, however, had student loans and private label credit cards, at 49% and 44% respectively; only 26% of Gen Z people in the TransUnion database had private label credit cards, and only 34% have student loans.
Part of the rise in credit card use over time, TransUnion said, was the rise in the consumer price index that drove consumers to rely more on their credit cards to offset costs. This trend of higher inflation led to America’s cumulative credit balance exceeding $1 trillion for the first time in 2023.
The average debt balances are also higher for Gen Z. In 2013, adjusted for inflation, the average 22- to 24-year-old had $2,248 of credit card debt, $19,043 in auto loans, $4,981 in unsecured personal loans and $149,130 due for their mortgage.
By comparison, the average 22- to 24-year-old in 2023 had $2,834 in credit card debt, $21,767 in auto loans, $5,273 in unsecured personal loans and $215,150 due for mortgages, according to TransUnion.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.