36% of Gen Z Consumers Now Pay With Digital Wallets

Digital wallets are gaining ground not only among consumers who prize speed, but among those using the apps to keep tighter control of strained household budgets.

That shift emerges in “The New Checkout: Crimped Consumers Lean Into Online Retail and Digital Wallets,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report based on a survey of 2,108 U.S. adults. The report finds wallet adoption is rising fastest among younger consumers and people under financial pressure. Their interest appears tied to features that extend beyond storing cards, including installment plans, real-time balance visibility and tools that help organize spending. In that sense, the digital wallet is becoming less like a virtual cardholder and more like a household financial dashboard.

Key Findings:

28% of consumers under high financial stress used a digital wallet for their most recent retail purchase, compared with 11% of low-stress consumers. The gap suggests that wallets are becoming an important access point for consumers who want flexibility without relying heavily on a traditional credit card.

21% of high-stress consumers used a digital wallet for their most recent grocery purchase, more than twice the 8% share among consumers with low financial stress. Use among the high-stress group also more than doubled from 10% in March 2024.

36% of Gen Z consumers used a digital wallet for their latest retail purchase in November 2025, up from 15% in March 2024. Across all consumers, usage reached 15%, representing a 50% increase over the same period.

The findings point to a broader change in what consumers expect from wallets. Adoption rose sharply for in-store retail purchases, where usage increased 63% between March and November 2025. Online grocery wallet usage climbed 55%, while in-store grocery usage rose 38%. Those increases show that consumers are carrying wallet habits across channels rather than reserving them for a single type of purchase.

Financial pressure appears to be accelerating that transition. Among consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 22% used a wallet for their most recent retail purchase, up from 14%. Some may be drawn to buy now, pay later options embedded in wallets. Others may value an immediate view of balances and transactions.

For banks, FinTechs and wallet providers, the opportunity is constructive. Consumers are showing that a wallet can become a practical money-management tool, especially when budgets are tight. Providers that make costs, repayment terms and available funds easy to understand can turn rising usage into stronger and more durable customer relationships.