63% of Millennials Don't Have a Credit Card

NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- More than six in 10 millennials (63%) do not have a credit card, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. Comparatively, only 35 percent of adults 30 and over have zero credit cards in their wallets.

Millennials are the least likely of any age group to pay their balances in full each month. Only 40% of millennials pay their entire balance every month, compared to 53% of adults 30 and older. Three percent of millennials admit to often missing payments completely, more than any other age group.

"Millennials may think they're staying out of financial trouble by forgoing credit cards, but they're actually doing a disservice to themselves and their credit scores," said Jeanine Skowronski, Bankrate.com's credit card analyst. "The responsible use of credit cards is one of the easiest ways to build a strong credit score, which is essential for qualifying for insurance policies, auto and mortgage loans, and sometimes even a job."

Recent polls suggest that more Americans, not just millennials, are relying less on credit cards since the Great Recession. But millennials in particular may have a greater aversion to debt since they grew up witnessing its effects on the economy.

"Many millennials are already battling with student loans, which likely makes them even more wary of the potential for debt," said Skowronski.

One other reason millennials don't have wallets full of plastic is simply because it is harder for Americans under 21 years old to get a credit card because of new legislation such as the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the CARD Act).

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/more-millennials-say-no-to-credit-cards-1.aspx

PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,161 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (523) and cell phone (638, including 377 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from July 31-August 3 and August 7-10, 2014. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com and InsuranceQuotes.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Caring.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:
Caroline Farhat
Publicist, Bankrate, Inc.
[email protected]
(917) 368-8638

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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.