If we go back in time about 40 years ago, only half of Americans had access to the convenience of credit cards – and many lacked checking accounts at banks. In the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80’s, if young people or lower-income Americans lacked cash, they couldn’t buy things – even a McDonald’s hamburger. People would literally go hungry at night if they didn’t have hard cash. And they experienced the indignity of having to borrow money from friends and family members. If they were really desperate, they might go to loan sharks or pawn shops.

What is different now is that nearly all Americans – nearly 80% – have access to credit cards. In America today, there are more than 500 million credit card accounts – nearly double the number of people over 18. And credit card apps are ubiquitous on cell phones, which customers can just tap their phone on a machine to pay for goods or services.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that hundreds of thousands of new accounts have been opened this year. During this time, spending on cards has soared.

In other words, access to credit has been almost fully democratized. Everyone is using them. They are one of most popular and useful consumer products of all time. The biggest beneficiaries of this explosion of credit card access and usage has been low- and moderate-income families.

Read and watch Steve Moore’s interview about this research on Fox Business.