Federal Reserve issues initial findings from its 2022 triennial payments study

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has published the initial findings from its 2022 triennial payments study which looked at the non-cash payment methods of businesses, consumers, and governments during 2021 and examined the payment period 2018 through 2021 compared to previous 3-year periods for any such payments. The key findings are briefly noted below; for more details, please consult the original statement of the Board:
– There’s a significant increase in the value of non-cash payment methods since 2018; in fact, the value of non-cash payments during the previous three years rose at a rate of 9.5% annually which is double the rate of the period 2015-2018 and triple the rate of examination periods before then.
– The increase in the value of automated clearinghouse (ACH) transfers contributed most to the overall increase. In fact, 72% of core non-cash payments were made using ACH.
– The number of non-cash payments grew – in absolute numbers – to now $204.5 billion in 2021.
– The rate of increase of non-cash payments slowed down, however, to now 5.6 percent per year between 2018 and 2021. During the previous examination period, 2015 through 2018, this rate was at 6.6%.
– Among all card type payments, debit card payments rose most, and represented 56% of the numbers of all card payments in 2021.
– Credit card payments represented nearly 1/3 of all card payments in 2021, whereby the use of pre-paid credit cards increased at a faster rate (9.6% annually) compared to the alternatives.