Millennials are the most likely generation to have more credit card debt than emergency savings, according to Bankrate's "2023 Annual Emergency Savings Report."
This may mean that both of these groups are overly relying on credit cards, says Melinda Opperman, chief external affairs officer, at Credit.org.
"When whole generations have more debt than emergency savings, that suggests they've been using credit cards as their emergency fund," she tells CNBC Make It.
Many millennials and Gen Xers see their credit card as a "de facto emergency fund," Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst for LendingTree, tells CNBC Make It.
As of February, the average credit card interest rate is 23.55% according to LendingTree's latest analysis.