Wallets, once considered essential, have become the subject of merciless teasing by Gen Z. The younger generation dismisses anyone still using a wallet as “old-fashioned” and views it as a major fashion blunder.
Carrying a wallet with your ID, cash, and bank cards is now seen as an outdated practice. Teens and twenty-somethings have declared wallets to be ‘old-fashioned’ and are using the term “cheugy” to describe them.
A TikTok video by Liz June, has garnered over 540,000 views as she announces the anti-wallet trend to her fellow millennials. She points out that Gen Z uses their phones as digital wallets, digitally storing their money and IDs.
@liz.june I’ll be keeping my side part, emojis, and wallet – for now at least. #millennials #millennialmom #millennialsoftiktok #30somethingsoftiktok #30something ♬ original sound – Liz June | Boy Mom-To-Be
While many millennials are genuinely puzzled that a phone storing all of your personal information, it’s evident that wallets are now firmly on Gen Z’s list of outdated items. Just like perms and cassette players, wallets are being replaced by high-tech alternatives and cash is a thing of the past.
A recent report by PYMNTS and Amazon Web Services revealed that 79% of Generation Z consumers use digital wallets. These tech-savvy individuals trust their smartphones not only with their money but also with their driving licenses, medical cards, and event tickets.
Digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay offer convenient and secure methods for online purchases without the hassle of entering card details at checkout. With the rising number of data breaches and scams, it’s no surprise that millennials are hesitant to embrace tech solutions and prefer to stick with their trusted wallets.