Debit Ain’t What It Used to Be
Are there cracks in the debit façade?
It turns out that debit as a “preferred payment type” actually has declined compared to last year, while cash – yes, cash! – has increased. Credit, meanwhile, ticked down slightly. While 32% of consumers, according to a comScore survey, prefer debit, that’s down from 36% last year.
ComScore blamed this on consumers being “cautious which it comes to their personal financial behavior,” but I am not so sure. Perhaps consumers just don’t like the disconnect of debit and credit cards? With cash, if a consumer has $10 and he spends $10, he is acutely aware that he is $10 poorer. But debit and credit cards tend to cloud the tally of the $10 the consumer spends here and there. “Cautious”? perhaps. But also a reversion to basics, it seems.
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