American consumers under 30 now hold an average of 2.4 fintech accounts in addition to any traditional bank accounts they maintain. That figure comes from a J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Retail Banking Study, which surveyed 100,000 consumers. For adults aged 18 to 24, the average is 2.7. The accounts span digital banks, payment apps, investment platforms, and BNPL services. Traditional banks remain in the picture, but they are no longer the center of it.
What Counts as a Fintech Account
The J.D. Power study classified fintech accounts as any financial relationship outside of a traditional bank or credit union. That includes Venmo and Cash App (payments), Chime and SoFi (digital banking), Robinhood and Webull (investing), Klarna and Affirm (BNPL), and Coinbase and PayPal (crypto). The average Gen Z consumer uses 1.4 payment apps, 0.5 digital banking products, 0.3 investment apps, and 0.2 BNPL products.
These are not passive accounts. The study found that 71% of fintech accounts held by consumers under 30 were used at least once per month. Venmo is the most-used, with 92 million active users in the U.S., according to PayPal’s SEC filings. Cash App has 57 million monthly active users. Robinhood has 24 million funded accounts.
Digital banking customers are expected to exceed 3.6 billion by 2028, and Gen Z’s multi-account behavior suggests that the total number of digital financial relationships per person will continue to rise.
Why Gen Z Uses Multiple Platforms
Older generations tend to consolidate financial relationships. A typical boomer has a checking account, savings account, credit card, and mortgage at one or two banks. Gen Z uses a different model: best-of-breed selection. They choose the best product for each function regardless of provider.
Chime pays 2.0% APY on savings and has no monthly fees. Robinhood offers commission-free stock and options trading with a clean mobile interface. Venmo handles peer-to-peer payments with a social feed. Cash App offers a debit card with rotating cashback categories. Each product is optimized for a specific use case, and Gen Z consumers are comfortable using multiple apps rather than accepting a mediocre all-in-one product from a single bank.
A Bankrate survey found that 63% of Gen Z consumers said they would switch financial products for a 0.5% APY improvement or a $50 annual savings. Among boomers, only 18% said the same. Fintech adoption rates surpass 64% globally, and Gen Z is the demographic segment driving the highest adoption in developed markets.
The Revenue Per User Challenge
For fintech companies, Gen Z’s willingness to adopt is a growth advantage but a monetization challenge. These users are young, have lower average balances, and are highly price-sensitive. Chime’s average deposit balance per user is approximately $700, compared to $4,200 at traditional banks, based on FDIC data and Chime’s reported aggregate deposits.
The monetization strategies differ by category. Payment apps earn from interchange (1.5% to 2% on debit transactions) and instant transfer fees ($0.25 to $1.75 per transaction). Digital banks earn from interchange and from lending out deposits at higher interest rates. Investment apps earn from payment for order flow, margin lending, and premium subscriptions. BNPL providers earn from merchant fees (3% to 6%) and late payment fees.
Fintech infrastructure platforms represent a $150 billion opportunity, and many of the infrastructure providers that power Gen Z-facing fintech products, including Plaid, Marqeta, and Galileo, generate revenue regardless of which consumer-facing app wins.
What This Means for Traditional Banks
Banks are losing the first-account relationship. A 2025 analysis by Oliver Wyman found that 44% of Americans aged 18 to 22 opened their first financial account at a fintech company rather than a traditional bank. In 2015, that figure was 8%. The first account matters because consumer financial behavior is sticky. People tend to stay with the platform where they received their first paycheck deposit.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo have all launched or expanded digital-first products targeting younger consumers. Chase launched a no-fee checking account with early paycheck access. Bank of America integrated Zelle into its mobile app as a default feature. Wells Fargo redesigned its mobile app twice in 2024 and 2025, focusing on the transaction feed and budgeting tools.
Over 70% of financial institutions are investing in fintech partnerships, and many of those partnerships are designed to retain younger customers. Banks are integrating crypto trading, automated investing, and BNPL into their own platforms, either through acquisitions or white-label partnerships.
The Lifetime Value Calculation
The long-term question is whether fintech companies can grow with their users. A 22-year-old using Cash App for peer-to-peer payments today will, over the next 20 years, need a mortgage, auto insurance, investment management, and retirement planning. The fintech company that retains that customer through those life stages captures more value than any single product can generate.
SoFi is the clearest example of this strategy. It started with student loan refinancing, added personal loans, then banking, investing, and insurance. SoFi’s 2025 10-K shows that customers who use three or more SoFi products have a 91% retention rate and generate 4.3 times more revenue than single-product users.
Global fintech revenue is expected to triple within the next decade. The Gen Z cohort that is currently 18 to 28 years old will be 28 to 38 during that growth period, entering their peak earning and borrowing years. The platforms that hold their accounts today are positioned to capture that revenue tomorrow.
