Millennials and Gen Z Drive Earnings Growth Across Finance and Retail

Consumer spending among millennials and Generation Z is not merely holding up. It’s underwriting earnings growth across financial services and retail, while pulling daily financial life deeper into mobile channels.

Gen Z is “digital by default,” as PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote in August. This cohort compresses shopping, payments, saving and entertainment into a single, app-driven routine. Gen Z averages 425 digital activity days per month, shops for groceries on Amazon at triple the rate of older generations, saves 36% of income versus 27% for the average consumer, and participates in side hustles at 55%.

These behaviors translate directly into transaction volume, account acquisition and product engagement, outcomes now visible in quarterly earnings calls. PYMNTS Intelligence data indicated that Gen Z spends 29 digital activity days per month on digital banking, followed by millennials at a respective 27 days.

Digital Natives Turn Engagement Into Revenue

At American Express, young consumers have moved from marketing priority to financial engine. During a fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call Friday (Jan. 30), management told investors that millennials and Gen Z now represent the largest and fastest-growing share of consumer spending in the United States. The average new Platinum customer age stands at 33 years old and Gold at 29. Luxury retail merchant spending rose 15% and restaurant spending climb 9%, underscoring how young, experience-oriented consumers are reshaping category mix.

American Express also pointed to a 30% uptick in travel bookings tied to its refreshed Platinum card and mobile engagement, evidence that digital product design is converting into premium spending rather than remaining a branding exercise.

SoFi’s HENRYs

Digital-first financial platforms are following a similar arc. SoFi has pursued HENRYs, or “High Earners, Not Rich Yet,” a segment largely composed of millennials earning six-figure incomes but still constrained by debt and high living costs.

While HENRYs remain a core constituency, the strategy has widened to include a broad swath of borrowers and everyday consumers seeking integrated checking, lending and investing tools. The HENRY framework explains why. High-income millennials often carry mortgages, student loans and credit card balances that leave little room for traditional wealth accumulation, creating demand for consolidated digital financial services.

That progression from niche affluence to broader digital adoption mirrors what PYMNTS Intelligence sees across Gen Z. Financial activity is no longer siloed into separate moments. Banking, shopping and saving occur simultaneously, often within the same session.

SoFi’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings results, released Friday, showed that membership rosters swelled by 1 million, to 13.7 million year on year. Management commentary indicated that personal loan borrowers carried an average FICO score of 746, and student loan borrowers averaged 765.

SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said nearly all of the company’s deposits now come from customers who treat the app as a primary financial hub, which underscores the PYMNTS findings that young consumers gravitate toward cross-selling and platform models.

Retail Earnings Follow the Same Script

The same dynamics are playing out in apparel and luxury, illustrating that the surge is not merely U.S.-centric.

Burberry said Jan. 21 that comparable retail sales rose 3% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. Management told analysts on the conference call that the company delivered a double-digit improvement in Gen Z customer growth in Greater China and Asia Pacific, with growth in young consumers across all regions.

Earnings calls offer further data points confirming that when financial services and commerce meet young consumers where they already live, on mobile, in apps and across channels, spending and lending follow.

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