Report

The 2014 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice: Summary Results

Abstract: In 2014, the average number of U.S. consumer payments per consumer per month decreased to 66.1, in a statistically insignificant decline from 67.9 in 2013. The number of payments made by paper check continued to decline, falling by 0.7 to 5.0 checks per month, while the number of electronic payments (online banking bill payments, bank account number payments, and deductions from income) increased by 0.6 to 6.9 of these payments per month. The monthly shares of debit cards (31.1 percent), cash (25.6 percent), and credit cards (23.3 percent) continued to be largest; while the share of electronic payments rose a significant 1.2 percentage points to 10.5 percent. Consumers’ average cash holdings dropped by about 10 percent to $207 in 2014. The number of cash withdrawals made by consumers per month also declined by about one withdrawal per month to 5.6. There was no significant change in cash use, however. About half of 1 percent of U.S. consumers held bitcoin or other virtual currencies. The 2014 SCPC includes a formal measure of “underbanked” consumers for the first time.

Keywords: cash; checks; checking accounts; debit cards; credit cards; prepaid cards; electronic payments; payment preferences; unbanked; Survey of Consumer Payment Choice;

JEL Classification: D12; D14; E42;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Part of Series: Consumer Payments Research Data Reports

Publication Date: 2016-08-15

Number: 2016-03