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
Archived Surveys & Diaries

Updated on May 12, 2025

2024 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice

Compared to October 2023, there were statistically significant increases in the number of all payments (increased about two payments, or 6 percent, to 48 on average per consumer per month) and in the number of credit card or charge payments (also increased about two payments, to 17).
The average value per consumer per month of all payments also increased significantly from $5,382 to $6,867 per month, up 28 percent.
The average payment dollar value was $142, an increase of 21 percent from 2023.
Paying with cash in the prior 30 days declined from 87 percent of consumers in 2023 to 83 percent in 2024.
Making a check payment in the prior 30 days declined from 40 percent of consumers to 35 percent.

View the 2024 Survey and Diary

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020: Survey | Diary
2019: Survey | Diary

To see older Surveys and Diaries of Consumer Payment Choice, please see the archived material at Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research icon denoting destination link is offsite (FRASER).