There are things men think are impressive on dates, and then there’s what actually lands.
One woman called out that while men think a fancy credit card is the thing that will stand out on a date, there’s something else when it comes to paying that’s even better.
Cash Or Card?
In a viral TikTok with more than 585,000 views, content creator Georgia Costello (@strawberrymilkmob) delivers a reality check to every guy who’s ever made a show of pulling out their American Express card.
“Who’s gonna tell men that we don’t care that they have an American Express?” she says. “We don’t care that it’s a metal card. Stop putting it on the bill like you’re big, like you’re him. You’re not him. You’re not. We don’t give a f—, OK?”
American Express is “handing those out like candy these days,” she says.
So what would actually impress her?
“Put some cash down and be like, ‘We don’t need change, babe. Let’s get out of here,’ and just leave the billfold on the table. Boom. Then I’m listening. Then I’m perky-eared.”
The Metal Card Phenomenon
Georgia’s not entirely wrong about the Amex mystique fading.
Metal credit cards became a status phenomenon in 2016 when Chase launched its Sapphire Reserve card. The card’s weight—13 grams of metal—created what industry insiders call the “plunk factor,” according to Fortune. Demand was so intense that Chase actually ran out of metal to produce the cards.
American Express understood the status game long before metal cards existed. It wasn’t just anyone who could get one. But when Chase Sapphire entered the scene, it targeted a different audience. Not old money trying to signal wealth, but those who “cared less about being rich and more about being cool,” according to a Medium article.
How Amex Is Courting Gen Z
These days, Amex is aggressively going after younger cardholders. According to Bankrate, spending by millennials and Gen Z makes up 33% of total spending on Amex cards—up 13% year-over-year. The company knows that 60% of new accounts are opened by millennials and Gen Z.
The company researched what younger generations want—experiences, special privileges, travel—and tailored the Gold and Platinum cards accordingly.
But the exclusivity that once made these cards special is eroding. Metal cards are “more readily available than ever before,” Sara Rathner, a credit card’s expert at NerdWallet, told Bankrate.
“That’s how trends go. It’s rare, and then it becomes more and more available to the general public, and it becomes pedestrian.”
The Cash Reality
According to Investopedia, the average American carried just $67 in cash on them in 2024. Most people keep another $306 stashed at home. Cash is now the third most-used payment method, behind credit cards and debit cards, accounting for only 14 percent of transactions.
And the demographic split is telling. Low-income Americans making under $25,000 per year use cash for 24 percent of transactions—twice the rate of people making over $100,000. Meanwhile, Americans 55 and older use cash for 19 percent of transactions, while the 25-54 crowd only uses it 10% of the time.
The gap’s only widening. Mobile payments jumped from four per month in 2018 to eleven per month in 2024.
Commenters React
“You can sit outside in the airport while im in the lounge then,” a top comment read.
“Cash isn’t getting us flying first class free,” a person said.
“Cash is ALWAYS KING. The metal card is still debt,” another wrote.
BroBible reached out to Georgia Costello (@strawberrymilkmob) for comment via email and TikTok direct message.