2025
9
US Black Consumers – Payment Preferences: 2025
2025-12-19T16:01:41+00:00
REPEEB00BDA_5E4E_4842_8C9C_CBDB35AF66D1
3695
189850
[{"name":"Banking and Payments","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/financial-services\/banking-payments"},{"name":"Market Intelligence Reports","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/report-type\/market-intelligence-reports"},{"name":"US","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/markets\/us-market-research"}]
Report
en_GB
Economic strain defines 2025 for Black households: median household income falls to $56K while unemployment climbs to 7.5%, pushing consumers toward low-risk, high-control payment tools such as debit and cash.
US
Banking and Payments
simple

US Black Consumers – Payment Preferences: 2025

"Building trust will enhance financial literacy, fostering greater diversity in Black consumers' use of financial products and payment preferences."

Courtney Rominiyi, Multicultural Consumer Insights Analyst

Courtney Rominiyi, Multicultural Consumer Insights Analyst

Collapse All

  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for Black consumers and payment preferences
    • Opportunities
    • Turn BNPL into a wealth-alignment platform
    • Bridge the trust gap in digital wallets
    • Brands can win by rewarding everyday spending, simplifying mobile payments and aligning incentives with cultural moments to deepen loyalty

  2. THE MARKET

    • Black consumers close 2025 with tighter budgets as incomes slip and unemployment rises, shaping more-cautious, intentional payment choices
    • Black consumers and the economic outlook
    • Black men participate in wealth building earlier and more often, because of lower debt and higher investment access
    • Higher education boosts earnings for Black women, but heavy debt and household responsibility limit their ability to invest and build wealth
    • Graph 1: percent of those who ever attended college who currently have student loan debt, by race/ethnicity and gender, 2022
    • Wealth gaps show how even modest differences in debt and access shape who invests steadily and who has to wait
    • Graph 2: mean total borrowed, by race/ethnicity and gender^, 2017-21
    • Graph 3: mean contribution to retirement savings – early, mid- and late-career workers, by race/ethnicity and gender, 2022
    • Black consumers show higher unbanked and overdraft rates, with greater reliance on non-bank services showing evolving financial behaviors
    • Graph 4: bank account ownership and overdraft, by race/ethnicity, 2024
    • Graph 5: use of non-bank check cashing or money orders, by race/ethnicity, 2024

  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Financial foundations: product ownership
    • Black consumers generally align with the total market in financial product ownership
    • Black consumers generally align with all consumers for ownership of most traditional financial products, but cultural factors shape how they use these tools
    • Graph 6: financial products owned, by Black consumers vs all, 2025
    • Gendered asset ownership shows clear gaps in how Black women and men hold financial products, which reveals uneven access to long-term wealth
    • Graph 7: Black consumers – financial product ownership, by gender, 2025
    • Black Millennials are reshaping financial growth as they lead in saving, investing and borrowing
    • Graph 8: Black consumers financial product ownership – savings account, Millennials vs all Black consumers, 2025
    • Graph 9: Black consumers financial product ownership – investment accounts and personal loans, by generation, 2025
    • Millennial men are emerging as core wealth builders, outpacing peers in investment ownership
    • Looking ahead: multicultural growth may reshape Black consumer behavior as rising mixed-race segments drive faster financial adoption
    • Life stage, family structure and the partnership premium
    • Family structure shapes finances for Black consumers
    • Household values guide financial choices; steady upbringing builds trust in long-term assets, while multi-gen homes face limited options
    • Graph 10: Black consumers financial product ownership – investment account and residential mortgage, by early home life, 2025
    • Graph 11: Black consumers financial product ownership – personal loan, by generations in household, 2025
    • Store credit cards can inspire loyalty for moms; support them with store credit perks that go beyond the purchase
    • Graph 12: Black consumers preferred payment methods – store credit card, by parental status and gender, 2025
    • Graph 13: Black consumers attitudes toward credit cards, by parental status and gender, 2025
    • Bold incentives, pre-approvals, and strong branding in emails can drive store card adoption and deepen engagement among Black moms
    • Income, strain and the balance between control and convenience
    • Black consumers mirror overall trends, but show a slight edge in fintech adoption
    • Graph 14: preferred payment methods (any rank), by Black consumers vs all consumers, 2024-25
    • Card behavior reflects access limits, with only about two-thirds of Black consumers holding a card
    • Graph 15: Black consumers – payment methods used, by purchase type, 2025
    • Cash remains vital for lower-income and older Black consumers, who rely on visible, immediate money to keep tight budgets under control
    • Graph 16: Black consumers preferred payment methods – cash, by age and HHI, 2025
    • Debit dominates in-store spending as Black consumers with tighter finances rely on direct, controlled payments to stick to their budgets
    • Digital wallets and fintech: generational convenience vs trust gaps
    • Over nine in 10 Black internet users have used at least one digital wallet in the past year
    • Graph 17: digital wallets used in the past year, by Black consumers vs all consumers, 2025
    • Digital wallets gain traction with Black consumers for convenience, yet security doubts and choice overload signal room for trust-building
    • Graph 18: Black consumers – digital wallet attitudes and behaviors, 2025
    • Digital wallet attitudes split, with younger adults driven by convenience and older consumers holding back due to skepticism and security concerns
    • Flexibility, credit alternatives and emerging risk cultures
    • BNPL engagement rises with income and employment
    • Black consumers mirror BNPL trends, but lean toward flexibility and small-ticket use
    • Black consumers are similar on all BNPL trends, but lean slightly toward flexibility and small-ticket use, signaling BNPL as a lifestyle cushion
    • Graph 19: attitudes toward BNPL, by Black consumers vs all consumers, 2024-25
    • BNPL is a cashflow optimizer for higher-income Black adults – reframe value, embed budgeting tools, and reward disciplined use
    • Graph 20: Black consumers – attitudes toward BNPL vs credit cards for larger purchases, by HHI, 2025
    • Parents use BNPL to offset costs, providing flexibility without disrupting household budgets
    • Graph 21: Black consumers – attitudes toward BNPL, by parental status, 2025
    • Risk-savvy wealth-builders blend BNPL with investing; add guardrails, credit-building features, and auto-invest nudges at checkout
    • Graph 22: Black consumers – attitudes toward risk-taking and BNPL, by investment account ownership, 2025

  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Nibbles rewards credit card is positioned to win Black Millennial men – a highly engaged pet-owning segment that already invests in premium care
    • PayPal launches “Pay with Crypto”
    • Improve the vibes, improve investment: spotlight on Credit Karma
    • Ease consumers’ load to help them maintain their credit; brands pair promotions with timely “Add to Calendar” reminders

  5. APPENDIX

    • Report scope
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Generation groups
    • Abbreviations

US Black Consumers – Payment Preferences and Trends

  • Economic strain defines 2025 for Black households: median household income falls to $56K while unemployment climbs to 7.5%, pushing consumers toward low-risk, high-control payment tools such as debit and cash. Yet a surprising 92% of Black internet users have tried at least one digital wallet, signaling tech-driven experimentation even amid budget tightening.
  • Industry impact is immediate: banks and merchants must balance security assurances with frictionless convenience as digital wallets and BNPL gain share. The biggest opportunity lies in solutions that merge flexibility with credit building, catering to Millennial men’s investment momentum and parents’ need for predictable cash flow.
  • The biggest threat is eroding trust. Higher unbanked and overdraft rates amplify skepticism toward fees and data privacy. Brands that ignore transparency risk exclusion from a segment whose population will reach 47.4 m by 2028, and whose multicultural influence will shape mainstream payment norms.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Economic headwinds shaping Black consumers’ payment risk tolerance and product mix
  • Gender, generation and family structure gaps in financial product ownership and wealth building
  • Rise of digital wallets and fintech adoption, alongside persistent security and trust concerns
  • BNPL’s role as a cash-flow optimizer for higher-income earners and parents
  • Opportunities for store cards and credit products to foster loyalty through culturally relevant perks
  • Innovation spotlight: crypto checkout, vibe-based budgeting and niche rewards cards
Download Report Summary
£ 3,695 (Excl.Tax)
  • Pay via credit card or invoice
  • PDF, PPT and Excel download delivered instantly
  • Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us

Trusted by global industry leaders

Tenth Wave logo

Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.

When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.

The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.

Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
Mediacom logo

Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.

It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.

Pauline Robson, Managing Partner, Mediacom
Jackman logo

At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.

Alana Gavin, VP Research and Insights, Jackman
Amazon logo

Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.

Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.

Ngozi Ngonadi-Nkwoji, Senior Marketing Manager, Amazon
VocaLink logo

We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.

As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.

We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.

 

Andrew Neeson, Market Intelligence Manager, VocaLink

Need help before you buy?

Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.

Contact us