A growing number of consumers are opting to make payments using their debit cards instead of credit cards, a new study has found.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, 61 percent of consumers said they used a debit card more frequently, up from 52 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the survey by Auriemma Consulting Group.
“Based on our consumer self-reported research, we have already begun to see [year-over-year] increases in debit card preference and spend over the past two years, as well as a growing proportion of consumers who are primarily using debit cards for online purchases,” Jaclyn Holmes, director of payment insights at Auriemma, said.
Further, for online purchases, the survey found that half of the respondents paid for online purchases with a debit card, compared with 35 percent who used a credit card.
Just two years earlier in 2015, 51 percent of survey respondents said they used credit cards for online shopping, while 34 percent used a debit card.
Auriemma also discovered that while credit cards remain preferable for big ticket purchases, like appliances, debit cards have closed the gap. Specifically, 39 percent used credit cards for larger purchases in 2017, while 31 percent used debit cards. In 2015, 58 percent paid for similar purchases with a credit card, while just 20 percent used a debit card.