The emerging popularity of mobile payment services to transfer money, such as Venmo and Cash App, has created a generational disconnect, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Many young adults and teens prefer digital payments over cash to reimburse friends for dinner or a movie, even if it means the payment is delayed, according to the Journal.
"I don't feel that old, and I identify with younger people on a lot of things, but there is definitely a disconnect on this," Jono Hicks, a 47-year-old sales manager for a sportswear brand, said of the shift away from cash.
The preference for digital options has become so popular among the younger generation that parents and grandparents have been forced to download apps to compensate young relatives for chores or babysitting, according to the report.
Becky Hicks, 32, told the Journal she began using Venmo about a year and a half ago out of necessity.
"I tried writing a check to a babysitter, and she was like, 'Um, is it OK if you Venmo it to me?'" Ms. Hicks said.
As Americans move away from cash payments, more people are likely going to have to adapt to using apps, according to the report.
Through March of this year, consumers used cash for 37 percent of purchases under $20, compared to 46 percent of purchases in the same period in 2015, according to a recent study conducted by Cash App and cited by the Journal.
Many businesses also have stopped accepting cash payments.
Read the full report here.
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