Credit Wins eCommerce Clicks as 38% Pay Online With Cards

The long-assumed digital divide between boomers and Gen Z is all but gone. What remains, according to PYMNTS Intelligence’s report “How People Pay: Payment Choice Depends on Shopping Channel,” is a subtler kind of divide. It’s one rooted not in who shops online, but in how they pay.

Across age groups, eCommerce has become a universal habit rather than a youth movement. The January 2025 study finds that from travel bookings to retail purchases, consumers of all generations are shopping online at roughly the same rate. Yet their payment choices still reveal distinct attitudes about money management and risk.

The report, based on a survey of 2,722 U.S. consumers conducted in November 2024, highlights how the eCommerce boom has matured into a cross-generational routine, and how preferences for debit, credit and digital wallets now map more to psychology than to age.

Here are some key findings from the report:

• Debit dominance, but only in-store: Forty-two percent of shoppers used debit cards for their most recent retail purchase in a physical store, compared with 28% who used credit. That makes consumers 50% more likely to pay with debit than credit when they can swipe in person.
• Credit takes the digital lead: When the purchase moves online, the hierarchy reverses. Thirty-eight percent paid with credit cards for their last eCommerce retail transaction, compared to 30% who used debit, a 27% swing toward credit. Security perceptions appear to drive the shift; consumers see credit cards as safer buffers against cyber fraud.
• Digital wallets double online: Only 8% of shoppers used a digital wallet in-store, but 16% did so online. The channel-specific surge suggests consumers view wallets as tools for convenience and privacy in virtual settings rather than at the checkout counter.

Debit’s hold in the physical world versus credit’s appeal online signals how trust and control now define payment behavior. Debit users, the report notes, are drawn to “value-driven retailers,” such as Walmart and dollar stores, reflecting a focus on budgeting discipline. Credit users gravitate toward eCommerce brands with robust fraud protection and premium experiences, such as Amazon and Target.

Indeed, Amazon’s gravitational pull remains unmatched. More than half (53%) of consumers using credit for their last online retail purchase did so on Amazon, and 44% of debit users followed suit. Even as Walmart grows its online offerings, its strength remains in-store, capturing nearly one-quarter of debit shoppers’ latest brick-and-mortar purchases.

Perhaps the most surprising finding is what’s not changing. After years of rapid digital adoption, eCommerce growth appears to have plateaued. The share of retail transactions made online held steady at 26% year over year. Rather than expansion, the new story is normalization. Online shopping is now woven into daily life across generations, from baby boomers booking travel to Generation Z ordering groceries.

Still, generational fingerprints persist at the edges. Gen Z and millennials are 72% more likely to make restaurant and grocery purchases online than baby boomers and seniors. These everyday categories, rather than big-ticket retail or travel, remain the true frontier of digital comfort.

As PYMNTS Intelligence notes, the digital revolution in shopping may be complete, but the payments revolution is still underway. The story of 2025 isn’t who shops online. It’s how the mix of debit, credit and digital wallets reflects deeper consumer instincts about safety, savings and self-control in an economy that now spans every generation.

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