Summary
Debit plus credit swamp cash. As for checks, what are they again?
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Please review our list of best credit cards, or use our CardMatch™ tool to find cards matched to your needs.
Your credit cards journey is officially underway.
Keep an eye on your inbox—we’ll be sending over your first message soon.
That’s what the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has quantified with its 2016 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, which is considered more accurate than surveys that rely on consumers later recalling their transactions.
Collected throughout October 2016, the diaries show that U.S. adults made an average of 45.8 payments per month. Of those, almost half (about 22 payments or 48 percent) were made with debit, credit and prepaid cards.
See related: Poll: Pay with cash or card for $5 purchase?, Debit, credit cards still killing off checks, More infographics
Debit cards were the top used method, accounting for about a dozen payments a month (27 percent), with credit cards being used about eight times (18 percent). Prepaid cards were used only about once per month on average, for 3 percent of total monthly transactions.
After cards, about a third of the month’s payments (31 percent) were made with cash, being used about 14 times, while electronic methods such as online bill pay, ACH from a bank account and mobile payments combined for a little more than six monthly payments (14 percent).
Paper checks held the last spot at just over three checks per month, or about 7 percent of the total transactions.
The Boston Fed study analyzed the results from 2,848 U.S. adults age 18 or older, pulled from an address-based representative sample, who successfully completed the diary every day in October 2016. The initial findings were released Jan. 12, 2018.
To use the graphic on your site, use the following code:
<center><a href=”https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/infographic-pay-plastic-boston-fed/”><img alt=”Infographic: Credit and debit cards are America’s favorite way to pay” border=”0″ src=”https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/images/infographic-payments-by-plastic.png” /></a> </center>
Editorial Disclaimer
The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective assessment of our writers and is not driven by advertising dollars. It has not been provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners.
Join the Discussion
We encourage an active and insightful conversation among our users. Please help us keep our community civil and respectful. For your safety, do not disclose confidential or personal information such as bank account numbers or social security numbers. Anything you post may be disclosed, published, transmitted or reused.
The editorial content on CreditCards.com is not sponsored by any bank or credit card issuer. The journalists in the editorial department are separate from the company’s business operations. The comments posted below are not provided, reviewed or approved by any company mentioned in our editorial content. Additionally, any companies mentioned in the content do not assume responsibility to ensure that all posts and/or questions are answered.