Millennials have become heavy users of alternative financial services, primarily payday lenders and pawn shops. A joint study from PwC and George Washington University found that 28 percent of college-educated millennials (ages 23-35) have tapped short-term financing from pawn shops and payday lenders in the last five years. Many of these borrowers resort to alternative lenders even though they have other options to access cash; 35 percent are credit card users and 39 percent have bank accounts. The study paints a bleak picture of millenials' financial situation -- more than half (53 percent) carried a credit card balance in the last 12 months, while nearly 30 percent are overdrawing their checking accounts. Half of the millennials could not come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose in the next month.