Millennial vs Gen Z banking preferences statistics show that 67% of millennials and 63% of Gen Z use mobile banking apps most often. Morning Consult polled 4,403 adults for the American Bankers Association (ABA) from October 1-6, 2025. The two generations split more clearly on cash access, as 10% of Gen Z name ATMs as their main channel against 7% of millennials.
Account access shows a wider gap. 12% of adults aged 18 to 29 were unbanked in 2025, according to the Federal Reserve. That is 4 percentage points above adults aged 30 to 44. Those two age bands roughly track adult Gen Z and millennials, so we use them as a proxy where the Fed and the FDIC report age rather than generation. The figures below run from channel choice through mobile adoption, cash, credit, savings, crypto attitudes and fraud.
Key Takeaways
- About two-thirds of Gen Z (63%) and millennials (67%) use mobile banking apps most often, against 54% of all bank customers.
- Gen Z leans on ATMs more than millennials do, at 10% versus 7%, while branches are the main channel for 3% of Gen Z and 7% of millennials.
- Mobile banking as the primary access method reached 76.6% of banked households in the 15 to 24 age group in 2023, up from 19.7% in 2013.
- 12% of adults aged 18 to 29 were unbanked in 2025, 4 percentage points more than adults aged 30 to 44.
- Consumers younger than 25 averaged two cash payments a month in 2025, 6% of their total payments.
- 48% of Gen Z and 47% of millennials say newer investment options such as cryptocurrency are more appealing than traditional investments.
Editor’s Choice
- Millennials banking mostly by app: 67% in the October 2025 ABA survey.
- Gen Z banking mostly by app: 63% in the October 2025 ABA survey.
- Gen Z who mainly visit a branch: only 3% in 2025.
- Banked households using mobile banking as their primary method: 48.3% in 2023.
- Households that were unbanked: 4.2% in 2023.
- Age when Gen Z began building wealth: age 19 on average.
- Age when millennials began building wealth: age 25 on average.
Millennial vs Gen Z Banking Preferences Statistics by Channel
- For the sixth year in a row, mobile apps were the most used banking method, picked by 54% of bank customers.
- Online banking via laptop or PC came second at 22%, ahead of branches at 9%, ATMs at 6% and telephone calls at 4%.
- The mobile share has more than doubled since 2017, when 26% named the mobile app as their preferred method.
- Millennials use online banking on a laptop or PC more than Gen Z, at 13% versus 11%.
- Baby boomers named mobile apps as their top method for the first time, at 38%, while their online banking share dipped from 41% in 2024 to 35%.
- About 1 in 8 baby boomers (12%) visit branches most often, against only 3% of Gen Z.
| Channel | Gen Z (%) | Millennials (%) | Gen X (%) | Baby Boomers (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile app | 63 | 67 | 56 | 38 |
| Online (laptop or PC) | 11 | 13 | 22 | 35 |
| Branch | 3 | 7 | 10 | 12 |
| ATM | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Telephone | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Source: American Bankers Association, Morning Consult
Do Gen Z or millennials use mobile banking more?
Millennials use mobile banking slightly more, as 67% name the app as their most used channel against 63% of Gen Z. Both generations name online banking second (11% of Gen Z, 13% of millennials). Below that, 10% of Gen Z rely mainly on ATMs against 7% of millennials, while 7% of millennials pick a branch against 3% of Gen Z.
About This Data
Compiled from 11 sources: 6 Federal Reserve and FDIC reports, 1 ABA survey release, 1 U.S. Bank survey release and 3 ABA Banking Journal reports, published between November 2024 and October 2026. Only official statistics and bank or trade-body surveys with a stated sample size qualified. Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.
Mobile Banking Adoption by Age Group
- Almost half of banked households (48.3%) used mobile banking as their primary method of account access in 2023, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
- Mobile banking as the primary method of account access increased almost ninefold over the past decade.
- Among banked households in the 15 to 24 age group, mobile-first banking climbed from 19.7% in 2013 to 76.6% in 2023.
- The 25 to 34 age group rose from 12.8% to 74.8% over the same decade.
- The 25 to 34 group gained 5.4 percentage points between 2021 and 2023, more than the 2.5 points the 15 to 24 group added.
- Off-site channels, meaning mobile, online or telephone banking, were the primary method for 70.5% of banked households.
- The youngest households are near a ceiling in mobile banking adoption, with the smallest 2021 to 2023 gain of the three age bands shown.
View the data
Mobile App Preference by Generation, 2024 vs 2025
- In the 2024 ABA survey, 64% of Gen Z and 68% of millennials used mobile banking apps most often, against 55% of Gen X.
- The 2025 survey marked the sixth year in a row that mobile apps led all banking methods.
- In 2024, only 4% of Gen Z and millennials preferred to visit a branch.
- Nearly half of baby boomers (41%) most often used online banking via laptop or PC in 2024.
View the data
Recent Developments
- October 16, 2026: A Forbright Bank survey of more than 3,200 people found 71% of millennials regularly contribute to an emergency fund, the highest share of any generation.
- October 16, 2026: The same survey found Gen Z more comfortable talking about money than millennials, at 56%, and baby boomers, at 31%.
- September 21, 2026: U.S. Bank reported that Gen Z respondents began building wealth at age 19, against age 25 for millennials.
- May 2026: The Federal Reserve issued its Economic Well-Being of US Households in 2025 report, which found the adult unbanked rate has held steady at its current level since 2021.
- Full year 2025: Consumers under 25 cut their cash payments by three a month on average versus 2024, the largest year-over-year decrease since the pandemic.
Bank Branch and Teller Use by Age
- A bank teller was the primary access method for 5.5% of banked households in the 15 to 24 age group in 2023, down from 10.2% in 2019.
- In the 25 to 34 age group, teller reliance fell from 8.0% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2023.
- Households aged 65 or more relied on tellers at 39.2% in 2019 and still 30.4% in 2023.
- Across all banked households, teller use as the primary method fell from 21.0% in 2019 to 15.1% in 2023.
- In the 2025 ABA survey, branches were the main channel for 7% of millennials and 10% of Gen X.
View the data
Unbanked Rates for Gen Z and Millennial Age Groups
- The Federal Reserve counts adults as unbanked when neither they nor their spouse or partner had a checking, savings or money market account, a rate that has held steady since 2021.
- The unbanked rate was 12% for adults aged 18 to 29 in 2025, 4 percentage points above the 30 to 44 group.
- Across all households, the FDIC unbanked rate eased from 5.4% in 2019 to 4.2% in 2023.
- Only 1% of adults with income of $100,000 or more were unbanked in 2025, and unbanked rates were also higher among younger adults.
- FDIC household data put the 2023 household unbanked rate at 5.9% for the 15 to 24 age group and 5.2% for the 25 to 34 group.
- The 15 to 24 unbanked rate fell from 8.8% in 2019.
- The Fed counts adults (2025) and the FDIC counts households (2023) in different age bands, so the two youth unbanked rates are not directly comparable.
View the data
Are Gen Z adults more likely to be unbanked than millennials?
Yes. In 2025, 12% of adults aged 18 to 29 were unbanked, 4 percentage points more than adults aged 30 to 44. Those bands approximate adult Gen Z and millennials.
Overdraft Fees and Buy Now, Pay Later Use by Age
- 12% of adults with a bank account paid an overdraft fee in 2025, up 1 percentage point from 2021.
- Adults under age 60 paid overdraft fees at higher rates than older adults, and the 30 to 44 group ran just 1 percentage point above the 18 to 29 group.
- Adults under age 60 were more likely to use Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), and use among 18 to 29 year olds ran 13 percentage points above adults aged 60 and older.
- Younger BNPL users were more likely to make payments late, and the late-payment rate for 18 to 29 year old users was 20 percentage points above users aged 60 and older.
- 17% of BNPL users were charged extra for paying late.
Key finding: Federal Reserve data show adults under age 60 were more likely to use buy now, pay later, younger users were more likely to pay late, and 17% of all users were charged extra for being late. Among adults under 45, 21% to 22% used BNPL and 15% to 16% of those with a bank account paid an overdraft fee.
| Age group | Paid overdraft fee (%) | Used BNPL (%) | BNPL users who paid late (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 29 | 15 | 22 | 32 |
| 30 to 44 | 16 | 21 | 31 |
| 45 to 59 | 13 | 17 | 22 |
| 60 and older | 5 | 9 | 12 |
Source: Federal Reserve Board
Cash vs Digital Payments by Age
- Consumers younger than 25 averaged only two cash payments per month in 2025.
- Cash made up 19% of payments for consumers aged 55 and older.
- Consumers aged 55 and older made 10 cash payments per month on average.
- Across all consumers, cash accounted for an average of six payments per month, 14% of total payments.
- 90% of consumers plan to continue using cash in the future.
- The under-25 drop is the largest year-over-year decrease since the pandemic, according to the Federal Reserve, and it lines up with the wider cash and digital payments shift.
View the data
Savings and Investment Account Ownership by Age
- 61% of adults had a tax-preferred retirement account in 2025, and 63% of prime-age adults did.
- Adults aged 18 to 24 trailed the 25 to 54 group by 35 percentage points on 401(k) or IRA ownership.
- On savings, money market accounts or certificates of deposit (CDs), the gap narrowed to 7 percentage points.
- Ownership of stocks, bonds, ETFs or mutual funds outside a retirement account was 15 percentage points lower for 18 to 24 year olds.
- Homeownership showed the widest split, 38 percentage points between the two groups.
- Savings accounts are the closest thing to parity between the age groups; retirement plans and homes open up later, mostly through employers and mortgages.
View the data
Crypto and Investing Attitudes: Gen Z vs Millennials
- 10% of adults used cryptocurrency in 2025, up 2 percentage points from the prior year.
- 48% of Gen Z and 47% of millennials say newer investment options such as cryptocurrency are more appealing than traditional investments.
- 30% of Gen Z and 28% of millennials report declining trust in cryptocurrency during the past year.
- 62% of Gen Z and 61% of millennials believe the stock market is a more realistic path to wealth than owning a home.
- 76% of Gen Z and 79% of millennials still believe traditional investing is the best way to save for long-term goals.
Why it matters: In the 2026 U.S. Bank Wealth Survey, crypto appeal is nearly identical for Gen Z (48%) and millennials (47%), yet 76% and 79% still favor traditional investing. Banks courting either group with crypto access are adding an option, not replacing the brokerage account, a pattern that also shows in crypto ownership by generation.
View the data
When Each Generation Starts Building Wealth
- Gen Z respondents report starting to build wealth at age 19 on average, against age 32 for boomers.
- 56% of Gen Z say they did everything right but are not where they hoped to be financially, and 62% say they struggle to make financial progress.
- Nearly half of Gen Z (49%) and millennials (47%) have taken or plan to take a break from investing.
- 29% of Gen Z and 26% of millennials say they have given up on owning a home for financial reasons.
- The 2026 U.S. Bank Wealth Survey polled 5,000 US adults between June 15 and July 1, 2026.
View the data
Financial Fraud Exposure by Age
- Adults aged 30 to 44 experienced financial fraud at a rate 4 percentage points above adults aged 18 to 29 in 2025.
- Adults age 45 and older experienced financial fraud at higher rates, largely driven by credit card-related fraud.
- Adults of all ages experienced non-credit card fraud at similar rates.
- Among adults experiencing non-credit card fraud, 65% lost money.
- Non-credit-card fraud totaled an estimated $100 billion in 2025.
- The younger the adult, the less card fraud (9% at 18 to 29 against 22% at 60 and older), while non-card fraud stays between 7% and 9% across ages.
| Age group | Any financial fraud (%) | Credit card fraud (%) | Other financial fraud (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 29 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| 30 to 44 | 17 | 13 | 8 |
| 45 to 59 | 21 | 17 | 8 |
| 60 and older | 26 | 22 | 9 |
Source: Federal Reserve Board
Digital Banking Satisfaction Ratings
- 95% of consumers rate their bank’s online and mobile app experience as excellent, very good or good.
- 96% of respondents describe their overall access to banking services as excellent, very good or good.
- 86% say innovation and technological improvements by banks are making it easier for all Americans to access financial services.
- 38% rate the app and online experience as excellent and 37% as very good.
- High satisfaction across the board leaves banks competing on features for younger users rather than fixing basic service, a theme in consumer banking satisfaction data.
View the data
Conclusion
67% of millennials and 63% of Gen Z use mobile banking apps most often. The channel question between the two generations is close to settled. The sharper gaps sit in access, as 12% of adults aged 18 to 29 were unbanked in 2025, and in cash, which made up just 6% of payments for consumers younger than 25.
App quality is already table stakes for both groups. The banks that win Gen Z will be the ones that open its first account and first credit line without fees. The next ABA and FDIC survey rounds will show whether the one-point dip in app preference was a pause or a plateau.
