In an update to its study results released in December 2010, the FRB Payments study summarizes the evolution of electronic and non-electronic payment trends. Highlights included trends in debit and credit card usage, in particular for small transactions.
Debit card usage now exceeds all other forms of noncash payments and represents approximately 35 percent of total noncash payments. Much of the growth in debit card payments was due to increases in purchases for small dollar amounts; for example, the report reveals that 64 percent of all signature debit card transactions are now for amounts under $25. General purpose credit cards, with 44 percent being under $25, are also used for small dollar purchases. Study results showed that card usage varied by dollar amount. Nearly 50 percent of all card payments under $15 are made with signature debit cards, while 41 percent of all card payments over $25 are made with general purpose credit cards.
Also of interest to payments analysts are estimates on use of e-statement for DDA accounts:
The study also estimates that 4.5 billion account statements were issued annually on checkable deposit accounts. Details regarding various statement types include the following:
Nearly 50 percent of paper statements, the most common form, contained only itemized listings of transactions, without the enclosure of printed images of checks or the checks themselves.
Fully electronic statements and image statements each represent nearly 25 percent of all statements.
Statements with checks enclosed, common in the past, are now incredibly rare, at less than 1 percent.
FRB press release at:
Summary article at: