BII
It's not all that surprising that some millennials don't own credit cards, but the percentage of this demographic that falls into this category is rather stunning.
New data from Bankrate reveals that young adults in the U.S. are concerned about holding credit, which in turn has led to low levels of card ownership. In fact, a mere 33% of adults ages 18 to 29 had a credit card in May 2016. This compared to 55% for those ages 30 to 49 and 68% for those older than 65.
Perhaps even more interestingly, this percentage of millennials has not changed much since a similar survey Bankrate conducted two years ago, which found that two-thirds of young adults had "no major cards."
This lack of card ownership could stem from millennials' low awareness about credit's usefulness. Bankrate discovered that debt aversion was a major problem for millennials even though credit lines and mountains of debt do not always go hand in hand. This group of consumers also did not understand how credit history affects mortgage or auto loan applications in the future.
Credit card networks and issuers would benefit from providing appropriate education to the public. And some companies, such as Discover and Capital One, are already starting to do this through free credit scoring and financial literacy programs.
These companies could target customers with the right products through recommendations for their own credit card products based on credit scores. This could increase the number of clients with secured or low-limit credit credit products and give these companies a new base of loyal clients who might one day own more cards or apply for more loans.
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