Research: 40% of consumers believe financial situation has changed for the worse

MX, an open finance platform based in Lehi, has released a new report on money habits and behaviors among Gen Z and other generations. The report’s findings show that consumers are less confident in their financial futures due to rising costs, with 50 percent of respondents saying that thinking about money makes them anxious and 47 percent agreeing that money is their primary source of stress.

Across generations, Gen Z may be most optimistic in the face of these economic challenges, while the majority of baby boomers are less confident, authors of the “Consumer Money Matters” research said.

Key findings from the report include:

• Unprepared for unexpected expenses: Only 40 percent of respondents are confident they can cover any unexpected expenses.

• Retirement confidence is low: Only 38 percent of respondents are confident they will be able to retire comfortably. Additionally, 37 percent say they do not have retirement savings.

• Trust in financial providers: A full 67 percent trust their financial providers to protect them from fraud and other security risks. However, 26 percent of respondents have been victims of fraudulent transactions on a financial account in the past two years.

• Unrecognized transactions are frequent: When asked if they have seen a transaction on their financial accounts that they didn’t recognize at first glance in the past two years, 27 percent of respondents said it happens sometimes or more frequently. This rises to 40 percent among Gen Z respondents.

• Gen Z less likely to use credit: Less than half of Gen Z respondents have a credit card (49 percent) — the only generation to drop below a majority. When asked what payment method they prefer when shopping online, debit cards are preferred 2 to 1 over credit cards (50 percent versus 22 percent).

• Account aggregation still needs work: Nearly one in 10 respondents (8 percent) said no when asked if connecting an app to a financial account went smoothly the first time they attempted it. Forty-five percent of those who have been disconnected also say that their connected financial accounts and money-related apps regularly get disconnected.

The full report gives detailed insights into financial stress, spending and saving habits and how consumers leverage mobile banking apps. It also shows a growing opportunity to build trust through the right proactive support, safeguarding personal data, and providing context to transaction data.

The full report is available at https://www.mx.com/whitepapers/consumer-money-matters-debt-on-the-rise-savings-on-the-decline/.

This survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted by MX in June 2022. Results included responses across each generation, with 25 percent of respondents identifying as baby boomers, 21 percent as Gen X, 21 percent as millennials and 33 percent as Gen Z. The respondents were evenly split between male and female.