Debit Cards Remain Most Popular Payment Method

Debit cards remain the most popular payment method for American consumers due to overall utilization and high customer satisfaction, according to a JD Power survey.

The report revealed 72% of customers use a debit card at the point of sale, either by tapping or swiping their card in person or entering their account number online or in a mobile app.

Meanwhile, 68% of customers reported they had a favorable impression of debit cards.

Both of these figures surpassed those for all other payment methods, including cash, credit cards, digital wallets and buy now pay later.

The report also found that customers under the age of 40 remained the most likely age group to use debit cards, as 82% reported usage and 77% expressed a favorable view of them.

Capital One, Chase and US Bank ranked as the best-performing debit card providers for under 40s.

Even though debit cards boasted high levels of customer satisfaction, the research found there is a wide variation of satisfaction levels with debit card issuers among customers.

In particular, there was an 85-point difference between the top- and bottom-ranked issuers.

Scores were most influenced by customer opinions about the reasonableness of fees and service charges as well as purchase limits, according to JD Power.

JD Power also found that security is crucial, as debit card issuers who keep their customers informed about security policies and protections experienced the greatest boost in overall performance.

Despite debit cards maintaining their relevance in the increasingly saturated payments marketplace, JD Power forecasts a rise in the popularity of digital wallets.

As digital wallets become more popular, there will be a gradual decline in customers using debit cards at physical points of sale and manually entering debit card information in website checkouts.