Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Together, the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice create a comprehensive picture of US consumers' payment preferences and behavior. The Survey and Diary fills a gap in knowledge about the role of consumers in the transformation of payments from paper to electronic. Payments data is collected in the context of cash holdings, checking account balances, credit card debt, and income receipt, among other variables. The Survey and Diary are representative surveys of US consumers; demographic data is included.
- Consumers report adoption of nine payment instruments, including cash.
- Daily in October, consumers report their use of the nine instruments, including dollar value of the payment, payee, location, and device use.
- Consumers rate instrument characteristics like security, cost, and convenience and state their preferences for particular situations (for example, bill pay).
For information on how the Atlanta Fed handles participant data from this survey, please refer to our online privacy policy.
Latest Update
Updated on October 13, 20222021 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
- In October 2021, U.S. consumers reported making 36 payments per month on average, up about one payment from 2020.
- As a share of all payments by number, most payments were by debit card (29 percent) or credit card (28 percent).
- By value, 40 percent of payments value was made electronically from a bank account using one of two ACH methods and 35 percent were made using a card (debit, credit, or prepaid).
- Eighty-five percent of consumers reported that they had used cash in the past 30 day.
- The share of purchases made remotely remained about 20 percent in 2021, the same as in 2020.
- Two-thirds of consumers reported that they had adopted an online payment account.
Archived Surveys
Archived Diaries