Credit Card News: Your Money

Bankrate has recently conducted a survey of U.S. consumers’ payment habits amid the coronavirus. According to it, the number of Americans paying for grocery purchases with credit cards increased significantly in April and reached 46%. For comparison, this amount in December 2019 was just 27%. On the contrary, debit card and cash payments dropped from 51% to 39% and from 22% to 15%, respectively.

The changes are obvious, and the main reason for them, as you might guess, is the coronavirus pandemic. The use of plastic cards in general now seems more secure and hygienic. And the sharp jump in the use of credit cards can be associated with the worsening of people’s financial situation and their need to use credit funds instead of personal savings.

However, despite the critical situation, people keep visiting supermarkets. 72% of respondents confirm they made in-person purchases of groceries in April. And the worst thing is that 80% of elderly people, the most at-risk group, are among them.

Another 49% of the poll participants preferred take-outs using credit cards in 51%, debit cards in 32%, and cash in 17% of cases. Back in December 2019, these numbers were equal to 30%, 42%, and 28%, respectively.

28% of Americans ordered food deliveries from restaurants, 13% ordered groceries directly from supermarkets, and 13% more used special delivery services for these purposes. It turned out that such actions are conditioned by the consciousness of citizens. 62% of those who used delivery services explained this by their desire to help stimulate the economy.

This is also confirmed by an increase in tips. 62% say they tipped more than usual, while 21% tipped much more. Millennials were the most generous (67% tipped more), followed by baby boomers (61%) and Gen Xers (57%).