In a period of the year characterized by high purchase volumes, such as Christmas, preceded by Black Friday and followed by sales, it is interesting to understand what are the spending styles of teenagers and which payment instruments teenagers prefer to use online.
The Foundation for Financial Education and Savings (Feduf), in its attention continues to investigate the habits, lifestyles and trends of the world of the youngest in relation to their attitudes towards money and savings, in collaboration with IPR Marketing, conducted an instant poll during the latest edition of the Salone dei Pagamenti, asking 10 multiple-choice questions on the subject of digital payments to around 200 young people between the ages of 14 and 17.
The results
Their answers show that they trust technology because it makes life easier; they find the use of digital payments convenient and safe but are not well informed about news and current affairs (some know cryptocurrencies, but cannot define them correctly); in almost all cases they do not give themselves a budget when they face an online shopping experience and, while aware of the positive aspects associated with the use of electronic money, they consider it more risky than cash.
"Beyond the various answers - declares Giovanna Boggio Robutti - Director General of the Foundation for Financial Education and Savings - it certainly emerges that our effort to educate financially on the new generations must continue, also and above all to make young people aware of a conscious use of money, which thanks to technology is better managed: in fact, there are numerous devices which, in addition to allowing online transactions in real time, allow you to always have your budget under control and to set spending targets calibrated on your actual financial availability.”
How digital natives perceive themselves
The interviewees are all, by age, digital natives, but they have very different opinions on what it means to be: having life easier thanks to technology (33%); live online and offline in parallel (30%); being able to do anything through a mobile device (25%); consider the web an experiential universe (20%). The heterogeneity of the answers is striking and the fact that a quarter of the boys attribute to mobile devices a sort of unlimited power that allows them to do anything.
How much do they spend?
But how much are our kids (14-17 years old) willing to spend online? Only 9% of the interviewees answered this question by indicating a spending limit of 100 euros, while for almost all there is no predefined spending limit before making a purchase. For 61%, in fact, it depends on what you are looking for, for 16% any figure if you find what you want and another 8% do not set spending limits.
How pagan
The payment methods that teenagers report as favorites for online purchases are the prepaid card (35%) and Paypal (30%); followed by credit card (15%), cash on delivery (10%), wallet on smartphone (3%) and, finally, bitcoin and cryptocurrencies (2%).
Cryptocurrencies
The question on cryptocurrencies (to which 55% of the sample did not answer) shows that young people have confused ideas, starting with the number of existing ones: one, bitcoin (16%); about a dozen (12%); about 50 (11%) and about 100 (6%). Cryptocurrencies are considered: an innovative payment instrument (37% of young people), a form of investment that guarantees high earnings (15%), a bargaining chip for cybercrime (12%). Again, 36% of the sample did not respond.
The advantages of electronic money
The majority of young people agree in indicating as the greatest advantage of using electronic money the fact that everything is traceable (56%), which favors legality (44%), which is convenient and safe (40%) and which represents a more sustainable tool from an economic and environmental point of view (31%). On what is meant by digital payments, on the other hand, there is no doubt (or almost): for 61% it means paying through the use of cards and applications and for 35% paying anything without cash. Only 15% indicate paying with bitcoins and cryptocurrencies as the answer.
