Millennial Money Management: Data, Stats, and Graphs

Forty-five percent of Millennials feel financial providers don’t do enough to support their financial needs. And, over half (56%) believe financial providers have a responsibility to teach them to be financially strong.

Financial providers can play a vital role in helping Millennials manage their money in ways that build financial strength by equipping them with the tools and insights they need. Here’s a collection of MX’s top statistics, data, and graphs on how Millennials prefer to manage their finances. 

In this post, you’ll find stats and graphics related to:

• How Millennials Feel About Finances Today
• How Millennials Currently Manage Money
• What Millennials Want from Financial Providers

Want to learn more about how different generations of consumers approach their finances? Check out our companion blogs on Gen X and Gen Z. 

How Millennials Feel About Finances Today

• Nearly half (47%) of consumers agree money is their primary source of stress. Millennial respondents (56%) were more likely to say money is their primary source of stress compared to Baby Boomers (36%) and Gen Z (45%). (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)
• 25% of Millennials feel completely financially secure today and 62% feel they will be someday. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)

• Nearly one-third of consumers are confident in their ability to cover any expenses, with Baby Boomers (41%) and Millennials (34%) most confident. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• 51% of Millennials feel confident their financial situation is better than 12 months ago.  (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023)
• 30% of consumers feel financial providers don’t do enough to support their financial needs. This jumps even higher for Millennials (45%) and Gen Z (35%) respondents. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)

How Millennials Currently Manage Money 

• Millennials are most active on mobile devices when it comes to managing finances (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023): 
• More than half (58%) of Millennial respondents report performing finance-related tasks on a mobile app at least once a day. At least weekly? This jumps to 85% of Millennials. 
• 63% of Millennials have 3 or more finance-related mobile apps on their phones. Fifteen percent of Millennials have 6 or more mobile apps related to finance. 

• Finance apps used most often? Among Millennials, payment apps top the list.  (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023)

• 41% of Millennials set up automatic payments to pay their bills compared to 36% of respondents say they set up automatic payments with each provider. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• 61% of Millennials have a credit card compared to 49% of Gen Z, 65% of Gen X, and 81% of Baby Boomers. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)
• 41% of consumers are carrying a balance month-to-month on their credit cards. This is highest among Millennials (44%) and Gen X (48%).  (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023)
• Across generations, we asked what statement most closely aligns with their current perspective on applying for loans. The majority of Millennial respondents were more aligned to paying in full rather than carrying a loan. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023)

• 29% of consumers have connected multiple financial accounts into one app to simplify how they manage their finances. This jumps to 37% among Gen Z and 46% of Millennials.  (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023)
• The majority of respondents (73%) have connected money-related apps to their financial accounts, with Millennials (84%) being most likely to have done this. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)
• Millennials (31%) turn to their parents more often than any other resource to get help with a question about their finances. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)
• In most categories, Gen Z respondents received full support from their parents twice as often as Millennials (Consumer Money Matters, 2022):

• For younger generations, the average time period for their longest-held accounts falls between 1-6 years with over 30% of Millennials saying their oldest account is 3 years old or less. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

• Nearly 1 in 4 consumers see transactions on their account that they don’t recognize at first glance at least sometimes or more frequently. This rises to 35% for Millennials. (Financial Wellness for the Masses)

What Millennials Want From Financial Providers

• 55% of consumers see their financial provider as a partner in helping them reach their financial goals. Millennials and Gen X feel even stronger here — 62% of Millennials and 60% of Gen X agree compared to 41% of Gen Z and 55% of Baby Boomers. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)
• 56% of Millennials believe financial providers have a responsibility to teach them to be financially strong. (A Time for Trust)
• 59% of Millennials see their financial provider as just a place to store their money. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)
• 48% of consumers would give their financial provider access to more of their data if they knew it would result in a better experience. Among Millennials (58%), this is even higher. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024) 
• 41% of Millennials would rather share their financial data to receive personalized guidance and insights versus keeping data separated by account. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024) 
• Organizations consumers would trust most to securely manage their personal financial data by generation (A Time for Trust):

• 72% of all respondents prefer to manage all their finances online or through a mobile app. Among different age groups, Millennials most prefer online and mobile at 85%. Percentage of consumers who view of manage financial accounts via mobile app (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022): 

• When asked what they would do if their preferred bank or credit union did not support connecting to their favorite fintech apps, 72% said they would seek out a different bank or credit union that could connect. This was even higher for Millennials respondents at 75%. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022)
• When it comes to what consumers most want to help them manage financial accounts online or through a mobile app, here are the features that rose to the Top 3 most often for Millennials (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022): 
• 32% order a personalized card
• 31% integration with digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay
• 27% connect outside financial accounts so they can see all financial data in one place
• 24% instantly issued virtual cards
• 23% open new accounts online

• The top features Millennials want most when it comes to the security and control of their financial accounts are (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022): 
• 39% ability to download your financial data
• 33% ability to get emails on transactions made
• 29% ability to set up card specific alerts
• 28% ability to restrict transactions at specific vendors or locations
• 24% biometric login options

• Here are the features Millennials most want for financial wellness (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022):
• 33% educational programs to teach you how to become financially stronger
• 27% predictive insights on what your account balance will be on a future date based on spending habits 
• 25% personalized recommendations on where you can make changes to improve finances
• 25% proactive reminders to pay bills, save money, etc.
• 24% automated categorization of transactions to help understand where money is going

• 64% of respondents expect to be able to see all of their financial data in one place, while 77% of Millennials expect this. (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022)
• Importance of digital or mobile banking capabilities by generation (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022):