Fed charts huge uptick in noncash payments

The total number of noncash payments made by U.S. consumers and businesses has more than tripled since 2000, with cards accounting for more than three quarters, by number, according to the Federal Reserve's latest payments study.

And while debit cards continued to account for the majority of card payments, credit card payments grew faster than did debit card payments for the first time in almost a decade.

ACH payments continued to account for the majority of noncash payments by value, the Fed said in releasing preliminary results of its triennial study. In fact, ACH payments made up almost three-quarters of the value of noncash payments for the first time in 2024.

The data also shows that check payments and ATM cash withdrawals continued to decline by both number and value.

The Federal Reserve Payments Study is a collaborative effort of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Reserve Board. The triennial study has been conducted every three years since 2001, with annual supplements produced since 2017.

The study develops aggregate estimates using data collected from voluntary surveys of financial institutions, card networks and other major payment processors.

By the numbers

Following is a rundown of key data points from the Fed's study.

• The number of noncash payments totaled 236.6 billion in 2024, a 31.9 billion increase from 2021, driven primarily by card payments.

• The total value of noncash payments rose to $140.01 trillion in 2024, an increase of $10.37 trillion over 2021. The annual growth rate in total value was 2.6 percent between 2021 and 2024, which was considerably lower than the 10.4 percent growth rate charted between 2018 and 2021, and also lower than the 3.8 percent annual growth rate achieved from 2000 to 2021.

• Card payments accounted for nearly 80 percent of all noncash transactions in 2024 – 79 percent compared to 77 percent in 2021 and 71 percent in 2015. By contrast, cards' share of total value of noncash payments was 8 percent in 2024, up only slightly from earlier years.

• The combined annual growth rate of all card transactions was 4.9 percent, in terms of numbers, and 2.6 percent in value.

• General purpose credit cards were the main source of growth, with their share of all credit card payments reaching 96 percent in 2024 by number up from 92 percent in 2015.

• Private-label credit card payments declined by number to 2.9 billion in 2024, from a peak of 3.7 billion in 2018.

• ACH debit transfers grew faster than ACH credits, although the latter still account for almost two-thirds of all ACH payments by value. ACH debits grew 5.4 percent per year by number and 5.6 percent per year by value, between 2021 and 2024; ACH credit transfers grew 0.7 percent per year by number and 2.4 percent by value.

• Since 2000, ACH credit transfers' share of all ACH payments, by value, increased from 48 percent to 65 percent, while the average value grew nearly 77 percent, increasing from $2,195 to $3,881.

• Checks continued to decline, falling to 4 percent of noncash payments by number and 17 percent by value, down from 59 percent and 67 percent, respectively, in 2000. However, the average value increased almost threefold, from $945 in 2000 to $2,653 in 2024.

• The number of ATM cash withdrawals continued a downward trajectory, falling to 3.4 billion in 2024, from 5.2 billion in 2015. The average ATM transaction, however, rose from $134 in 2015 to $210 in 2024.

The latest Federal Reserve Payments Study underscores how rapidly the U.S. payments sphere continues to evolve, with digital payment methods gaining further ground while checks and cash transactions steadily decline.

As consumers and businesses increasingly prioritize speed, convenience and electronic access to funds, payment providers and financial institutions will likely continue investing in technologies that support growing demand for card and ACH-based transactions.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.