Consumers love credit — but do they always want more? For baby boomers and seniors, the answer tends to be, “No, I have enough.”
PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest research finds that 77% of baby boomers and seniors have active credit cards. This is a much higher rate than seen among younger individuals. Yet very few older consumers have active buy now, pay later (BNPL) accounts. This suggests they may see little need for credit card alternatives. More broadly, very few baby boomers and seniors show interest in credit products compared to younger consumers.
These are some of the findings detailed in “Boomers Are Leaving the Credit Market,” a PYMNTS Intelligence special report. This edition examines consumer credit demand and use, with a focus on baby boomers and seniors. It draws on insights from a survey of 2,038 U.S. consumers conducted from Sept. 9 to Sept 16.
Baby Boomers and Seniors Skip BNPL
Older consumers are the biggest adopters of credit and store cards, which seems to leave them with little need for other forms of credit.
Baby boomers and seniors show little appetite for BNPL compared to their younger peers. Just 4.5% of older consumers have active BNPL accounts, less than half the rate of any other generation. Millennials are the most likely to have an active BNPL account, at 18%. Bridge millennials and Generation X follow, at 16% and 12%, respectively. Notably, just 9.6% of Generation Z has an active BNPL account, dispelling any simple explanation about age driving BNPL adoption.
Credit cards, on the other hand, enjoy the strongest uptake among baby boomers and seniors. Data shows that 77% of these consumers hold an active credit card. This is 9 percentage points more than Gen X and 14 percentage points more than millennials. Gen Z trails far behind, at 48%. Store cards follow a similar pattern, with even larger percentage point gaps in adoption between baby boomers and seniors and younger consumers. Overall, these trends suggest that BNPL use is largely about the need for flexible credit lines and predictable cash flow. Baby boomers and seniors, more than other groups, tend to have credit and store cards that already check this box.
Happy With What They Have
Baby boomers and seniors are mostly happy to use the credit that they have, while other generations are actively seeking more.
Low demand for BNPL among older consumers reflects a wider demographic divide. Baby boomers and seniors have far less interest than their younger counterparts in obtaining credit products they do not already have. The divide is stark even between consumers in the oldest age bracket and those in Gen X.
We find that 4.1% of baby boomers without an auto loan currently express interest in obtaining one. This compares to 9.8% for Gen X, 12% for millennials and 10% for Gen Z. The gaps are even larger for personal loans. Among the consumers without a personal loan currently, just 3.9% of baby boomers and seniors indicate interest, versus 17% for Gen X, 16% for millennials and 23% for cash-strapped Gen Z who may be looking to purchase their first car.
Notably, just 1.6% of baby boomers and seniors without a credit card currently say they are interested in getting one. This puts the earlier finding about low BNPL adoption into perspective. Older consumers generally feel they have plenty of existing credit options and little use for new products. This suggests that to grow their market share among baby boomers and seniors, lenders need to take a different approach. They should likely focus on delivering better quality credit options — for example, products with lower interest rates or appealing reward programs — that tempt older consumers to upgrade rather than assuming they want additional types of credit products.
Less Likely to Reach for Credit
Baby boomers make purchases with credit less often than other generations.
Despite having the highest rate of credit and store card ownership, baby boomers and seniors use credit for new purchases far less frequently than other generations. For example, 46% of baby boomers and seniors paid for a restaurant meal using credit in the last 90 days. This compares to 50% to 56% among other age groups. Older consumers may purchase from some categories, such as streaming subscriptions and consumer electronics, less often than younger consumers. However, even for groceries, furnishings and appliances, baby boomers and seniors use credit much less often than younger consumers. This implies boomers and seniors may be more likely to use debit or cash rather than credit to make their purchases.
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Methodology
“Boomers Are Leaving the Credit Market,” a PYMNTS Intelligence exclusive report, is based on a survey of 2,038 consumers conducted from Sept. 9 to Sept 16. The report examines consumer credit use, with a focus on baby boomers and seniors. Our sample was census-balanced to reflect the U.S. population: 51% of respondents identified as women, the average age was 48 and 38% earned more than $100,000 annually.
