New Mastercard research shows affluent consumers enjoy optimizing their wallets with "financial gymnastics." Tangible rewards like cash back and travel points are big pull factors, as the affluent juggle credit and debit cards with digital wallets and mobile payments. While prioritizing experiences and legacy-building, affluent consumers don't accept anything less than the speediest and most convenient payment options.
By Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard What does the perfect wallet look like? It might be embossed with your initials or is entirely digital, shiny, and easy to access with a single press of your thumb. Regardless of your aesthetic tastes, the perfect wallet is arguably one that works perfectly for your needs. At Mastercard, we recently caught up with today's affluent — that is, people in the top 10% of household incomes — to inform the creation of the most attractive, exciting card propositions, tailored to their needs.
While many interesting habits stood out, my personal favorite is "financial gymnastics," which refers to optimizing wallets as much as possible, juggling payment methods, and strategically using different cards. In fact, as many as 75% of affluent individuals globally "like managing money closely and don't mind spending time doing it," with almost half reporting that they use financial gymnastics to maximize rewards. That said, stacking up rewards is only one aspect of their gymnastic.
