'Generation P' Leading Credit, Debit Card Charge

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press

Erica Jostedt loves to shop, but she hates paying with cash or a check. There’s rarely more than $20 in her wallet and she doesn’t carry around her checkbook because she usually needs it just once a month to cover the rent at her San Francisco apartment.

“I get so annoyed when I go into a place that only takes cash that usually I end up going somewhere else,” she said.

Jostedt, 24, was born in the 1980s, the leading edge of a generation that is shunning paper payments like no other before it.

These young consumers so consistently reach for debit and credit cards that Visa USA has anointed the age group “Generation Plastic,” or “Gen P.” Their habits are driving even more merchants to accept debit and credit cards, fueling legal battles over the fees underlying the cards and raising more concerns about the nation’s shriveling savings rate.

Plastic payments — including online commerce — now account for 50.4 percent of the spending among consumers ranging from 18- to 24-years-old, with cash and checks making up 41.1 percent of their spending. Consumers 25 to 34 years old spend about 45 percent either way, while everyone older still uses cash and checks at least half the time, according to Visa, the nation’s largest payment network.

For this complete story, please visit ‘Generation P’ Leading Credit, Debit Card Charge.