Understanding Gen Z Finances: A Comprehensive List of Stats and Research

Gen Z consumers today are more digitally savvy, more connected, and more demanding than most generations before them. And, according to the World Economic Forum, their attitudes toward finances are “sometimes aligned with and sometimes starkly different from those of older generations.” 

As the buying power of Gen Z continues to grow, organizations across every industry are focused on figuring out what makes these consumers tick. Here’s a round up of MX’s top statistics, data, and graphs on Gen Z perspectives and actions for the financial industry. 

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

• Gen Z Attitudes on Finances
• How Gen Z Feels about Financial Providers
• Gen Z Personalization Expectations
• How Gen Z Manages its Money
• Gen Z and Account Aggregation

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

Gen Z Attitudes on Finances

• 71% of Gen Z consumers say they will be financially secure someday, while 20% say they feel completely financially secure today. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)

• 48% of Gen Z consumers say they are living paycheck to paycheck today. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)

• “Financial avoidance” has led to an increase of 29% year-over-year for average credit card debt among Millennials and an increase of 40% for Gen Z. (Your 2024 Digital Banking Playbook, 2023)
• 56% of Gen Z agree they feel confident their financial situation is better than 12 months ago. (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)
• 33% of Gen Z are most worried about being able to pay for everyday necessities. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 

• 45% of Gen Z agree that money is their primary source of stress. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 
• Of those who say they have emergency savings, just 17% of Gen Z say they have more than $5,000 set aside. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 
• Only 13% of Gen Z indicated they have a 401(k) account. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 
• Most common types of debt for Gen Z consumers are credit cards (28%) and student loans (27%). (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 
• When asked where they would go to get help with a question about their finances, 42% of Gen Z turn to their parents more often than any other resource. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 
• Nearly one-third of Gen Z respondents (31%) say they live with their parents or another relative and do not pay rent. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022) 

How Gen Z Feels about Financial Providers

• 35% of Gen Z consumers agree they feel financial providers don’t do enough to support their financial needs. This compares to overall (30%) and Millennials (45%). (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• Among Gen Z consumers, 11% define a primary financial relationship as where they log into most frequently online or through a mobile app. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)
• 21% of Gen Z respondents have opened a new bank account in the past six months, while others have strongly considered switching to a new bank (14%) or considered switching but have not taken any action (17%). (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

• 5% of Gen Z consumers said they would trust tech companies, such as Apple, Google, and Amazon, the most to securely manage their financial data. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)
• 58% of Gen Z consumers agree they see their financial provider as just a place to store their money. On the flip side, 41% of Gen Z agree they see their financial provider as a partner in helping them reach their financial goals. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)
• When asked if they would seek a new financial provider if their current provider couldn’t deliver on their most wanted features, 60% of Gen Z said they would do so. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 
• 58% of Gen Z consumers believe financial providers have a responsibility to teach them to be financially strong. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 

Gen Z Personalization Expectations

• 54% of Gen Z agree they expect greater levels of personalization in banking than ever before. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• 54% of Gen Z consumers say they would give their financial provider access to more of their data if they knew it would result in a better experience.  (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)
• 44% of Gen Z consumers say they are likely to provide access to their financial transaction history to receive more personalized offers and services from a retailer or restaurant that they frequently visit. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)
• When asked how much financial data they’d be willing to share with a retailer or restaurant to receive a more personalized experience, 10% of Gen Z said “all of it” while the majority (45%) said only what is absolutely necessary. (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

How Gen Z Manages its Money

• Younger generations are more likely to leverage automatic payments to pay their bills. 42% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials set up automatic payments with each provider, while only 29% of Gen X and Baby Boomers do this. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• Gen Z (16%) respondents are most likely to use credit cards for emergencies only. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)

• For younger generations, the average time period for their longest-held accounts falls between 1-6 years. 42% of Gen Z respondents say their oldest account is 1-3 years old, while 24% of Millennials report the same. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

• When asked how often they have opened a new financial account on average, 36% of Gen Z consumers are opening new accounts at least once per year. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)
• Among Gen Z, the top financial goal for 2024 is to improve their credit score (18%), followed by being able to cover their bills each month (17%). (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 43% for Gen Z and 35% for Millennials. (Financial Wellness for the Masses: Getting Personal Financial Management Right, 2023) 
• 56% of Gen Z are likely to pay directly from their checking account instead of using a credit or debit card if they received an incentive.  (What Influences Where Consumers Choose to Bank, 2023)

• Across generations, we asked what statement most closely aligns with their current perspective on applying for loans. The majority of Gen Z respondents (35%) were more aligned to paying in full rather than carrying a loan. (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)
• 45% of Gen Z say they have used a Buy Now, Pay Later service on a purchase. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022) 
• Even though Gen Z is the most digitally-native generation, only 48% of Gen Z respondents perform finance-related tasks on a mobile app at least once a day, compared to 58% of their Millennial counterparts. Most Gen Z respondents (47%) have 1-2 finance-related mobile apps on their phones, while 39% have 3-5 or 6 or more (10%).  (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)
• 79% of Gen Z say they prefer to manage all their finances online or through a mobile app. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022) 
• 89% of Gen Z view or manage their accounts with a mobile app. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022) 
• 56% of consumers check their financial accounts at least once a day, while 18% check multiple times per day. Gen Z respondents check their accounts even more often, with 67% checking at least once a day. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022) 
• 64% of Gen Z agree they prefer multi-factor authentication when accessing finances through a mobile app.  (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)
• Finance apps used most often? Among Gen Z and Millennials, payment apps top the list. For Gen X and Baby Boomers, banking apps are the most used. (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)

• When it comes to what consumers most want to help them manage financial accounts online or through a mobile app, the features that rose to the Top 3 most often for Gen Z are (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023): 
• Connect outside financial accounts so they can see all financial data in one place (31%)
• Integration with digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay (25%)
• Order a personalized card (22%) 
• Instantly issued virtual cards (20%) 
• Enroll in paperless account statements (19%) 

• The top features Gen Z want most when it comes to the security and control of their financial accounts are (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023): 
• Ability to download their financial data (40%) 
• Required multi-factor authentication (40%)
• Ability to restrict transactions above a specific amount (36%) 
• Ability to see and control who has access to their financial data (35%) 
• Ability to get emails on transactions made (33%)

• Gen Z is most likely to report an unrecognized transaction as fraud at 24%, compared to just 7% of Baby Boomers. And, they are just as likely to report as fraud vs. look at their receipts to figure it out. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 
• The features Gen Z consumers most want for financial wellness include (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023): 
• Automated insights created based on financial data (36%) 
• Automatic savings options (32%) 
• Educational programs to teach them how to become financially strong (31%) 
• Ability to set up customized goals (26%)
• Automated categorization of transactions to help understand where money is going (24%) 

• 50% of Gen Z say the ability to manage balance or fraud alerts is critical. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 

• 43% of Gen Z say the ability to turn a card on or off, or report it as lost, is critical. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 

Gen Z and Account Aggregation

• Less than half of consumers (44%) have used digital tools to bring different financial accounts into one view. Why? 22% of Gen Z says they don’t know how to do this. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024) 
• 37% of Gen Z and 46% of Millennials have connected multiple financial accounts into one app to simplify how they manage their finances. (What is Financial Wellness, 2023)
• 80% of Gen Z expect to be able to see all of their financial data in one place. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 
• 15% of Gen Z indicated they have shared their financial data with a third party in the past 12 months. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023) 
• Only 23% of Gen Z say the ability to see and control who has access to their financial data is critical. That said, 70% say it is important. (What Consumers Want from Financial Providers, 2023)