Most popular credit card brands among millennials Germany 2020

In 2020, millennials used various credit card brands to pay for purchases. The most popular brand was Visa, with almost 36 percent of millennials using it. Around 31 percent did not have a credit card at all and were not planning to get one.

Credit or debit?

Credit cards are one popular way to pay by card, with money spent within a monthly time frame deducted from the owner’s bank account at the end of the month. The card used may belong to the holder or to someone else. While using someone else’s card may be doable for an online purchase, paying with it in brick-and-mortar establishments may require entering the PIN code. The number of credit card payments made in Germany had decreased in 2020 – 139.6 million compared to 144.2 million in 2019. Otherwise, numbers had been growing annually. All the same, debit cards remained significantly more popular in Germany. Most recently, there were over 115.6 million debit cards in use, compared to 37.3 million credit cards.

Cash or card?

European countries differ in how widespread paying by credit card is. By comparison, Germany does seem more attached to cash, though consumers are sometimes forced to pay this way by circumstances rather than their own decision. It is not uncommon to walk into a restaurant or small shop to see a sign saying card payments are not possible. France noticeably outstripped other countries by value of payments made. The top three in the ranking was rounded up by Sweden and Poland.