Leveraging the unique methodology that premiered in the 2021 report, we have continued to refine our approach for the 2022 publication:

• We conducted extensive research on market size, fees and interest, and growth projections for dozens of financial products and services using the best-available secondary research as well as numerous expert interviews.
• We fielded a nationally representative survey (n = 5,033) in November 2021 to understand household usage of a variety of financial products. We aligned this survey with our secondary analyses.
• We utilized our secondary research to estimate national spending on each financial product and then used survey data to allocate spending among different demographic groups to reveal disparities and inequities in usage.

In 2022, we report estimates for calendar year 2020 as well as 2021, enabling us to see year-over-year trends. In many instances, 2020 estimates have been updated to include the most recent data available. Pairing this research with our survey data grants unique insight into how consumers are using financial services.

For some products, regular, vetted information is available, such as public filings or official government datasets, but others require significant extrapolation. All require some degree of estimation. We disclose our sources, as well as our level of confidence in the accuracy of our estimates, in Appendix II of the 2022 report. We welcome feedback on how we can continue to enhance our analyses.

Defining Usage by Households

This study utilizes the household as the primary unit of measurement. All survey respondents self-identified as the primary or co-decision-maker on household financial matters. For person-level characteristics, such as race and ethnicity, we used the characteristics of the respondent to represent the household.